Yoru - Gamer Between Dimensions
by jordanvn
Summary: When a boy wakes up in the world of Naruto with no memory of the past, foggy memories of the future, and a convenient Gamer-like ability so what's he to do? The only option is to get stronger and move forward. SI-ish. Mainly OC. Kind of AU. Plans for crossovers in the future. Please leave reviews! (I'll create a separate sequel to this story in the future.)
1. Chapter 1

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. Another thing to note is that I am too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 _I looked around me and all I saw was darkness. It was neither cold nor warm as I could feel nothing around me. My body was non-existent and I was but an empty soul. I had so many questions on my mind, however. How did I get here? What was this place? Why was I alone? Could I leave? Would I be stuck here?_

 _As I contemplated someway to kill myself...again as it seemed..my surroundings started to change...no my surroundings started to feel different. Instead of the lonely unfeeling darkness around me, there was now some warmth and I could feel myself in some sort of viscous fluids. A contraction occurred around my surroundings and I felt my body being pulled or pushed out towards a nearly approaching light…_

* * *

 **You have slept in a bed. Your HP and CP have fully recovered.**

With a gasp of breath, I woke up, my shirt sticking to my moist skin from the perspiration on my body. Ever since the day (or night I couldn't remember) I was born, time seemed to blur around me. It felt as if the past 3-4 years now had been a dream and I could hardly remember what went on during that time. The weirdest part was that I felt as if a fog had been lifted from my mind and I was finally starting to experience my life.

...Taking into consideration that I could still see the blue box hovering above my head after my internal monologue, I deemed it safe to assume that I was either dreaming, hallucinating, or this was somehow real. I found it interesting that I could recognize the floating characters as something that I had seen somewhere before, or maybe something I read about, but I could not remember what my past 3 or 4 years had been like. As a matter of fact, I could barely remember what I did yesterday...

I shook my head from those thoughts and focused on my current situation. My memory seemed to have been...foggy, for lack of a better term, until this morning; I had an ability eerily similar to a video game and best of all, I could remember some knowledge odd knowledge about...anime? Why would I need to have knowledge of anime unless I was placed in a situation where that knowledge was necessary...

 **For making an accurate judgement about your situation moments after waking, you are rewarded +1 INT and +1 WIS**

' _Alright, take stock of your situation and first figure out where you are'_

I figured that the best way to get started would be to figure out who I was and where I am. I thought for a moment. _"If this is somehow like a game, then..."_

 _"Status"_

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Race: Human?**

 **Level: Lvl 1 Next Level: 0/200**

 **HP: 300/300 Regen: (3 per min)**

 **CP: 200/200 Regen: (2 per min)**

 **CC: 20%**

 **STR: 4**

 **VIT: 5**

 **DEX: 3**

 **INT: 10**

 **WIS: 9**

 **ENGY: 3  
**

 **Points: 0**

 **Ryo: 1000**

It was only mildly disconcerting that not only had I not known my name before this, but that I appeared to be not completely human denoting the '?' next to my race. However, those were trifles compared to the matter at hand. I clicked on the stats to see what they all meant and to get a general idea of where I was.

* * *

 **Attributes**

 **Hit Points (HP):**

 **HP** determines the amount of damage or 'hits' you can take before your body fails to function and you essentially die. The more **HP** you have, the more damage you can dish out and the longer you will survive in this world. **Hit Points** are calculated through the following formula:

 **Base HP (50) + (Vitality * 50)**

 **Chakra Points (CP):**

 **Chakra** if the life energy of every human on the planet and is a versatile and powerful form of energy. It is essential to every technique and can be controlled and manipulated to create an effect that would not be possible otherwise. **Chakra Points** are calculated by the following formula:

 **Base CP (50) + (ENGY * 50)**

 **Chakra Control (CC):**

 **Chakra Control** determines how much or how little chakra you waste when performing techniques. For example, a **CC** value of 20% means that you are wasting 80% of your chakra when performing techniques and you are using 5 times more chakra than would otherwise be necessary to get the same effect

 **Strength (STR):**

The **Strength** attribute determines the person's overall physical power. This attribute affects the amount of damage a person can inflict on another with Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, bladed, or blunt objects. It also affects the amount of weight they can lift, or throw. The average **STR** stat for an adult human, who has never trained his/her chakra, is around 10. **Vitality (VIT):** The **Vitality** attribute determines the person's overall health. This attribute also affects a person's ability to regain health outside of combat and resist specials types of damage from things such as poison, chakra draining, paralysis, burns, etc. The average **VIT** stat for an adult human, who has never trained his/her chakra, is around 10.

 **Dexterity (DEX)**

The **Dexterity** attribute determines the person's overall movement. This attribute affects a person's accuracy, evasion, speed, and ability to land critical strikes on an opponent in close, mid, and long range combat. Dexterity also plays a major role in pick pocking, stealth, use of weaponry and the ability to dual wielding weapons properly. The average **DEX** stat for an adult human, who has never trained his/her chakra, is around 10.  
 **  
** **Intelligence (INT):** The **Intelligence** attribute determines the person's overall ability to think quickly and innovation. It also affects their ability to learn, memorize, retain information, and determines how smart they are. The average **INT** stat for an adult human is around 10.

 **Wisdom (WIS):**

The **Wisdom** attribute determines a person's common sense and perception. Wisdom also plays an important role in learning certain skills such as Genjutsu and Medical Ninjutsu as well as defending from mental attacks. The average **WIS** stat for an adult human is around 10.

 **Energy (ENGY):**

The **Energy** stat determines the amount of energy the individual has and can be increased through training. The **Energy** of this world is Chakra, therefore increases to the **Energy** stat will increase your chakra pool.

* * *

' _Interesting'_ I thought as I looked at the information present. There were only two worlds off the top of my head which had chakra and in which I could possibly be, namely Highschool DxD and Naruto. I highly doubt I was in Highschool DxD since humans did not use chakra in that series, assuming that the '?' did not denote me as a partial Youkai. The only other obvious option was that I was in the world of Naruto…in the body of a 4-year-old.

Sighing, I stood up and tried to think of what my game plan would be. I was young so I had time to train, but the issue was that I didn't know what part of the timeline I was in nor what nation I was in. It's possible that I was in some small lackluster area of the elemental nations, however, I would never know unless I left my room.

I took a pause to really take a look at where I was. The room was quite large and I could note the sleeping forms of a good number of children around me. Taking that into consideration, and the fact that all those sleeping forms were on beds, I could make one of two guesses as to where I was. Either I was in a large ass rich family or, knowing my luck, I was in an orphanage that was well sponsored. I was more inclined towards the latter, but this was also somewhat good news as a well-sponsored orphanage which could afford beds for every child could only be located in a well-off area.

 **For using amazing deductive reasoning to understand your situation, you are awarded +1 INT and +1 WIS**

I rubbed my temples as I contemplated what exactly I was to do next. I made a mental list in my mind for my impromptu plan:

Find out what country I am in

Train to get stronger

Pending…

I pinched the bridge of my nose

" _This going to be a long day."_

* * *

I had finally found my way to the dining table after one of the Orphanage Caretakers woke up the children who had been sleeping. We were all eating breakfast at some large ass table and I contemplated a plan to train. There was no way I was going to live a life of mediocrity especially since I had such an advantage to my disposal.

I needed to find some way to get out and exercise

"-ru"

There wasn't really a place in the Orphanage that I could work out and not get caught.

"-oru"

Though I don't think that it would get me in trouble if I started working out in the House. I just wouldn't want to raise suspicions if I started acting differently than I was usually perceived.

"YORU-KUN!"

' _hm?'_

I turned towards the source of my distraction and regarded her for a moment. She was cute in a childish kind of way with her short black hair and dark blue eyes. She looked to be around 5 or so. Looking above her head, I noticed dull glowing words hanging in the air.

 **Emi, Orphan**

 **Lvl - 1**

 **Rep - 15**

"...Can I help you?" I asked

She had an adorable pout on her face as she replied.

"We're going to the park later today. Remember you promised to play ninja with me?"

"...Yeah, I did say something like that." No, I actually didn't remember, but I might be able to take this chance to learn more about myself

Seemingly satisfied for now the black-haired girl turned and walked away. Not a second later did she seemingly remember something and turn towards me with an 'I'm laughing at your misfortune' kind of smile on her face. "Also Miss Ayami told me to remind you that it's your day to help wash up the dishes. HAVE FUN!"

Who the was Ayami?

Ping!

 _ **Quest Alert!**_

 _ **Clean Plate Club**_

 _ **Miss Ayami is the Orphanage Matron and she requires (demands) your assistance in cleaning up after breakfast. Show her your amazing skills in plate cleaning and make sure there are no spots left unclean.**_

 _ **Rewards: 25 XP.**_ _ **+1 Stat Point.**_

 _ **Failure: Decreases Rep with Miss Ayami. You'll probably have to do them again regardless**_

 **Do You Accept?**

 **Y/** N

Well, the game thing didn't give me much of a choice in the way of options seeing as the "N" button was greyed out, so I mentally accepted the quest and got to work in cleaning the table.

With the gathered dishes I made my way towards the kitchen and noticed an older looking woman washing the dishes in the sink. I noticed other caretakers and a few other orphans doing what they could to help out.

Since I didn't really know what they wanted me to work on, I just stood around the area shifting awkwardly for a moment until I was noticed by the woman washing the dishes.

 **Yasaka Ayami, Orphanage Myron**

 **Lvl - 15**

 **Rep - 20**

"Ahh, Yoru please be a dear and help me with these dishes. I have a few other things to do that need my attention."

With that said and done she left me to my own devices and I walked up to the sink. It seemed as if I was trusted enough around here is she left me to take care of fragile objects unsupervised. I lightly sighed in relief as I scrubbed the plates clean. So far it seemed as if no one really noticed anything off about my behavior or if they did, they didn't call me out on it.

My mind wandered to what the outside of this home would look like. If that girl Emi was telling the truth, then the Orphan Matron would be taking the orphans out to the park or something. This would give me the opportunity to familiarize myself with my environment.

With these thoughts, I continued to clean the dishes and made sure I could, at the very least, see my reflection on the plates. I was a neat freak, bite me.

Ping!

 _ **Quest Completed!**_

 _ **Clean Plate Club**_

 _ **Rewards: 25 XP.**_ _ **+1 Stat Point.**_

' _Status'_

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Race: Human?**

 **Level: Lvl 1 Next Level: 25/200**

 **HP: 300/300 Regen: (3 per min)**

 **CP: 200/200 Regen: (2 per min)**

 **CC: 20%**

 **STR: 4**

 **VIT: 5**

 **DEX: 3**

 **INT: 11**

 **WIS: 10**

 **ENGY: 3  
**

 **Points: 1**

 **Ryo: 1000**

With all that set and done I relaxed for a moment as I contemplated the mechanics of this system. If this was similar to the Gamer mechanics I was familiar with, then it stands to reason that I should have the basic skill set that came with the package.

' _Skills'_

* * *

 **Skill List**

 **Gamer's Mind (Passive) Intensity (90%).**

Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind. Grants immunity to psychological status effect. The intensity level dictates how much Gamer's Mind influences your emotions. An intensity of 100% completely shuts off your capacity to feel emotion while an Intensity of 0% returns your emotional capability to its maximum possible state.

 **(WARNING: Due to your unique circumstances, the intensity of Gamer's Mind is unable to be adjusted)**

 **Gamer's Body (Passive) Lvl 0:**

Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game. After a quick sleep, it restores HP, MP and all status effects. Allows you to master techniques and adapt to external stimuli much faster. Training Gamer's body allows you to increase your healing rate. Your body is made with a high level of adaptability and improves on itself. Sleep allows for your body to fully restore itself to its peak condition.

 **0% increase to HP and CP regeneration rate**

* * *

I hummed in thought as I looked over my skills. **Gamer's Mind** solved the issue of why I hadn't had a mental breakdown as of yet. Waking up in a new and dangerous environment with foggy memories and knowledge would drive most people insane, so I was pretty thankful my mind was intact.

The ability to adjust how much effect **Gamer's Mind** has on me was new though. This would definitely help me in controlling my emotions when necessary and I wouldn't have to act like ROOT ninja all the time.

The most interesting thing, however, was the **Gamer's Body** skill. Not only did it have a level which was unfamiliar to me, but this ability even allowed me to have a greater ability to learn techniques and adapt to stimuli. I'm assuming it meant things like poisons and burns would have less effect on me the more I became exposed to them.

This was even more unusual than what I noticed with **Gamer's Mind** but it seemed as if I could improve on it to no foreseeable limits. I could work with this. The only thing that sort of bothered me was my inability to adjust the intensity of my **Gamer's Mind** perk, but I guess the only thing I could do was wait until something changed.

"Thank you so much, Yoru you did an amazing job! Why don't you clean yourself up before we leave." Ayami said as she can back from whatever errands she was running.

I let a ghost of a smile appear on my lips before I nodded and started to walk off. However, as I was doing so, I noted the peculiar look Ayami was giving me which made me somewhat uncomfortable. Had I done something wrong?

"...what?"

She scrutinized me for a little longer before she seemingly found what she was looking for, "No, it's just that I have never seen you smile before. I'm glad you're at least starting to open up!" She finished with a smile on her face.

I took a moment to digest her words. Had I really been so emotionless? What was I really like in the past? Regardless I continued my journey to the bathroom to get a quick rub in. The bathrooms were large with multiple shower heads, but in order to accommodate the number of children here, there was little room for privacy. I went over to the sink to brush my teeth before I took a look at myself in the mirror.

To be honest I hadn't even bothered to see what I looked like beforehand. Like with my name, I had no idea what I looked like and the only thing I knew was that I was male. As a result, looking at myself in the mirror was like seeing myself for the first time.

Light Brown skin covered my 3 foot 7 inch frame. I was taller than most kids my age, on that note, and from my skin color, I guessed that one of my parents probably came from the Land of Lightning or maybe even Kumogakure itself. Silver eyes stared back into mine with short white hair draped on my head. My body was actually well proportioned and while I didn't have any muscle at all, I still looked like I went for the occasional jog to keep myself in shape-or whatever equates to that on a 4-year-old body. It was a little weird for me to see this strangers body as my own, but I had to thank **Gamer's Mind** that I wasn't going all angsty and depressed at my situation. Having a nervous breakdown was not a good thing nor something I wanted to experience anytime soon or ever.

Overall, I guess I could call myself cute and as long as I didn't ruin myself somehow, I would grow up to be quite handsome. I wonder what my old body looked like….

With those thoughts, I finished brushing up and went to the shower. The warm water flowed down my body submerging me in a state of bliss until it was time for me to move on. With a turn of a knob, the shower turned off and I went to get myself prepared for the day.

* * *

Coming out of the Orphanage Building, I took a look around the environment I found myself in and took in the sights of all the activity going on around me. I rotated my body as my gaze shifted around when I suddenly froze. The great news was that I had finally realized what Hidden Village I found myself in. The OK news was that I was in Konohagakure, also known as the village hidden in the leaves, which was home to a great many talented and strong people. The shit news, however, was that I could only see 3 faces on that mountain...I squinted my eyes and stood on my tiptoes in a futile attempt to hopefully catch a glimpse of another face on that mountain; of course, I found no such thing.

Gears turned in my head as I turned around to catch up to the matron and the rest of the children who were going on ahead. If Minato Namikaze hadn't been instated as the 4th Hokage as of yet, then what part of the timeline had I found myself in? As of this moment, most of my knowledge of canon was irrelevant and that bothered me a lot, but not nearly as much as a realization that came to me.

If Hiruzen was still Hokage, then I could be anywhere in the timeline from the 2nd Shinobi war to the 3rd. Cold sweat seeped in my back as the ramifications of this discovery impacted me with all the gentleness of a maglev train, all before **Gamer's Mind** kicked in and calmed me down allowing me to think about my situation logically. There didn't seem to be a need to worry because the village looked peaceful and I couldn't see any evidence of tension on the villagers' faces, but in a shinobi, village looks could always be deceiving.

I had to fight back a grimace as I thought of what I should do. The most imperative would be to find out where I was in the timeline and the only way I could do that was to find a character in the series that I was familiar with. Through their age, I could get an approximation of where I was in time and prepare accordingly. My overall plan wouldn't change though because I would still have to get stronger regardless, but it seemed like the need for strength just became that much more imperative.

This was a world where individuals could level mountain ranges and change landscapes on a whim. I wanted that kind of strength, no I needed it. Not for some desire to protect my 'precious people' nor for some misguided notion that I could bring about world peace if I had overwhelming strength. No, I simply needed the power to keep myself alive and enjoy my life without fear of anyone taking advantage of me and if it just so happen that I find people to care for along the way, then them too.

I would break my body, reforge my bones, and claw my way from hell of it meant that I would be able to live a life with no threats to my being. I couldn't understand where this conviction came from, but it didn't matter because this was something I had to do for myself and to guarantee my life. I would not rest, I would not falter, and I would not give up unti_

"COME ON YORU!" Emi yelled as she dragged me off to who knew were, breaking me out of my thoughts. It seemed like I had been inner monologuing myself all the way through the trip here and most of the other children had gone off to do whatever it was kids did.

Regardless I forcefully pushed my thoughts to the back of my mind ad I tried to appreciate the scenery around me. I had to admit that the park looked beautiful. The trees seemed to shine with a healthy green glow and the area was surrounded by a variety of color from the different flowers around. I basked in the beautiful environment and appreciated the scenery around me as I was being dragged off to who knew where.

"KIDS MAKE SURE YOU DON'T GO TOO FAR!" I heard the Matron yell.

"NO PROMISES!"

"WE'LL BE SAFE!"

"HAHAHA!"

I could practically feel the exasperation coming from the poor woman as the kids replied in their typical childlike manner. I merely allowed myself to get pulled by Emi and we arrived at a more forested area of the playground. It was easy to get back towards the main area where the Matron was due to the visible path that lead here. I assume Miss Ayami wasn't too worried about us getting lost here most likely due to some sort of fencing of the area.

Emi and I weren't the only ones here as a few other kids decided to join up. To be honest I could care less about them and didn't even bother reading their names. The only reason I tolerated being with Emi was that she was adorable and I wouldn't forgive myself if I made someone so cute cry. Bite me.

"Yo are you all ready to play ninja!"

"Heck yeah! I call being the friendly ninja!"

"Me too!"

"Me three!"

"Hey wait just a minute," Emi said with her cheeks puffed. "It's Yoru's first time playing. He should be the friendly ninja too!"

One of the kids took a look at me and snickered. I think I'll refer to him as brat 1. "Emi why do you even bother with him? He never plays with anyone! If anything he should be the enemy ninja!"

"He's always by himself and doesn't talk to anyone." This was brat 2

And the now dubbed brat 3 decided to speak up, "and he's kinda weird…"

"Plus he'll learn the game faster by being the enemy ninja. We're doing him a favor!" Ahh, justifying your actions by claiming you are helping the supposed 'victim'. I didn't know they started out so young. This one will be dubbed annoying brat 4

My adorable and dependable Emi crosses her arms and leveled her harshest glare which looked more cute than frightening. "If you guys keep being mean to Yoru then I'm not playing!" She finished her statement with a cute head turn.

"It's alright Emi." I stated while patting her head. I just couldn't help myself.

"But-"

"No 'buts' I promised I would play with you today so I don't mind playing the villain." This was as good an excuse as any to get some form of exercise in.

Emi still didn't look convinced but she acquiesced for now still with a pout on her face. She looked so cute that I couldn't help but lightly pinch her cheeks.

"stop treating me like a little kid!"

"But you are a little kid." Well, she was shorter than me so she was 'little' in the literal sense.

"I'm older than you!"

"And I'm taller than you so that makes me the 'big brother'. Heh, get it? Cause I'm physically bigger." It was such a horrendous joke that I wanted to stab my brain for coming up with it, but I supposed it would work well enough on little children if Emi's smile meant something. For all her complaining she wasn't really making an effort to stop me from pinching her cheeks.

"Alright enough already let's play!" The peanut gallery seemed to be irritated that we were having our own little moment so Brat 1 decided to make his presence known even if no one cared for it.

I rolled my eyes before regrettably retracting my hand.

"Fine then, but at the very least tell me how to play this game."

"It's simple, we're gonna hide and as the enemy ninja, you have to catch us. Good luck with that though." He looked especially smug while I just looked confused.

"...isn't that just hide and seek?"

"What's hide and seek? We're playing Ninja!" He was looking at me as if I was some sort of idiot for not even knowing what this game was.

"..."

 _ **Quest Alert!**_

 _ **Ninja Hide-and-Seek?**_

 _ **Since you are essentially an outcast, you have been made to be 'it' in this game of dubious similarity to hide and seek. Find the brats who have put you up to this and make them regret making you 'it'.**_

 _ **Rewards: 50 XP.**_ _ **+1 Stat Point per person found**_

 _ **Failure: You will feel pathetic for letting children get the better of you.**_

 **Do You Accept?**

 **Y/N**

I decided that arguing with him wasn't really doing my mental health any favors (again why do I even remember what hide and seek is?) so I waved them off and selected **Y**. I closed my eyes to allow them to run wherever and opened them to discover that they had disappeared to who knew where. To be honest, if I found Emi first I'd have probably just left the rest of them hanging, but since there was a quest I sort of had to actually try and find them. Now that I was alone, however, I decided it was time to create some skills that would help me down the line and in this game.

First I needed to get a feel for my chakra, so with closed eyes, I took a deep breath and laid down on the ground. I focused on the center of my body trying to feel for the energy hidden in my body. My focus never wavered and I finally managed to feel some sort of warmth in my navel area, where the chakra center was located. I tried to pull at the warmth any which way, but it managed to slip out of my grasp. I took a deep breath mentally psyching myself up and with greater concentration, I focused on that warmth in my navel area again. ' _Breathe in, breathe out'_ I repeated that mantra in my head and focused only on myself, disregarding the world around me.

Ping!

 **You have created a new skill 'Meditation'**

 **Meditation (Active) Lvl 1 [48.67%].**

 **Meditation** **is a skill created through continuous inner focus. Meditation helps to sharpen focus and order thoughts, and it increases clarity of mind and awareness of the body.**

 **Passively increase INT by 2%.**

 **Passively increase WIS by 2%.**

 **HP and CP regeneration increase by 10% when active.**

 **(NOTE: Cannot be activated during combat. At higher levels, you are able to better sit still and the rate of HP and CP regeneration increases.)**

Now that I had a feel for what it was like to manipulate my Chaka ever so slightly, I focused now on trying to spread that feeling to the rest of my body. It was noticeably harder, yet it didn't take me too long to manage and I finally managed to grasp it. I'm sure that **Gamer's Body** played a role in my ability to quickly grasp and manipulate my chakra due to its ability to allow me to learn skills faster. I was still trying to figure out how that worked though.

" _Now time for the greater test."_ I grimaced as I focused this warm feeling trying to spread it outwards around me. I imagined a 'dome' of chakra around me for of like a 'domain' where I would be able to sense people and living things-at least that was the general idea. It was significantly harder than expected and I quickly realized that while it was a feasible idea, it wasn't necessarily the best or most cost effective since it's range probably wouldn't be too great anyway. Plus I could feel that I wouldn't make fast headway on this technique because it was hard to get chakra to leave my skin without dissipating, let alone form a 'dome' that was large enough to be useful.

I put that idea in the backburner for when I had more chakra and control and instead tried a different approach. Instead of imagining a 'dome' I imagined a 'pulse' that would give me feedback like a sonar or a bat's echolocation. I gathered a small amount of chakra and forced it out of my skin in a 'pulse' that was connected to me. It easy to accomplish since it didn't require so much chakra or control and the results were amazing.

Ping!

 **You have created a new skill 'Chakra Sonar'**

 **Chakra Sonar (Passive/Active) LV 10 [5.45%] CP: 5 per pulse**

 **Chakra Sonar allows the user to pulse their chakra in set intervals. It is useful for detecting living being with chakra and for scouting and it effectively makes the user a 'sensor'. It is possible for this skill to evolve. The skill can be passively activated to occur at the user's set interval. The range of the skill increases 10 meters per level.**

 **DEFAULT SETTING: (1 pulse every 5 seconds)**

 **MAXIMUM RANGE: (100 meters)**

This was a very useful skill to own and the fact that it could evolve and become even better was a bonus that I had not foreseen. Nevertheless, I decided that now was as good a time as any to put this skill to good use...and play some hide-and-seek. I adjusted the pulse rate to every 30 seconds and closed the window only I could see.

I finally stood up, shaking my legs to get rid of all the cramping, before I ran deeper into the wooded area with my chakra constantly pulsing. I had to set it to 30 seconds because my chakra control was currently ass and at the same time I didn't have much chakra to work with. I would be using 5 times as much chakra, due to my control rate of 20%, in order to produce the same result is I had 100% control. If I had left the skill on its usual default passive state, I would have run out of chakra in 40 seconds...let that sink in.

I was cut out of my minute-long musing after I felt a life signature on my feedback loop and quickly approached the source. Since I wasn't being too subtle, I wasn't surprised when I heard a "-EEP" and a scuttling of footsteps away from my direction. I picked up the pace of my footsteps and ran towards the sound of breathing and rustling leaves before I caught up with my target. I wrapped up my vict-target in my arms before hauling her up.

"I found you Emi."

"Okay okay, Yoru put me down! I surrender!" She turned around and gave me the most adorable glare she could before I acquiesced.

I simply shrugged in a 'what can you do?' expression patting her head, "It's alright Emi, it's just a game after all."

The little girl in question turned her head in a huff, "Fine but you better quickly find the others so that we can play again!"

I rolled my eyes, "Fine but you have to keep up." I could hear her growl in frustration as I ran ahead of her. I sent out another pulse of chakra and picked up a couple signatures in the vicinity. I slowed down and stood a good distance away from them before I noticed Emi coming up behind me.

She shot me a baleful look, "YORU_"

I slammed her mouth shut with my hands and gave her the universal hush sign. "There are a couple of them around here. I don't want to scare them away so I have to do this quietly."

Looking rightfully skeptical as she couldn't sense them as I did, she replied with a more level tone, "How do you know that?"

"Because I'm that good. Now sit still and watch me work." With that, I left the huffing little girl and snuck around the forested area. I used whatever pitiful knowledge of stealth that I could recall and tried to make sure I didn't make a cliche mistake of stepping on a branch or something. I send out another pulse to make sure that they were still in the same place and tiptoed around the trees while keeping my head low.

Ping!

 **You have created a new skill 'Stealth'**

 **Stealth (Active: ON) lvl 5 [23.45%]**

 **Stealth is the fundamental skill that all ninjas learn to become, well better ninjas. Having good enough stealth allows you to more easily infiltrate enemy lines, assassinate priority targets, and spy. This skill is subconsciously activated when you need to go into stealth mode. It grants you increase stealth where your every movement is subconsciously inconspicuous, making it more difficult to notice your presence and find you.**

 **Stealth infiltration, avoidance, and concealment ability are at 5%.**

 **For stronger opponents, -2% for each level they surpass you by**

With the presence of this skill, I felt my body correct itself in order to better utilize my surrounding and decrease the amount of noise I made. My breath grew quieter, and my head lowered even more and I snuck up on one of the unsuspecting kids. When I got right behind him, I quickly slammed my hand on his mouth to stop him from screaming and used my other hand to stop him from struggling as much.

"Quiet down, I don't want to alarm the other one." I could feel him squirm less as he heard the sound of my voice no doubt recognizing me. He turned an annoyed glare my way yet had a face of begrudging respect which was when I noticed that this was brat #1. I told him where I left Emi and went on to confront my other prey.

* * *

 _ **Quest Completed!**_

 _ **Ninja Hide-and-Seek?**_

 _ **Rewards: 50 XP.**_ _ **+5 Stat Points**_

* * *

It had been relatively easy to find the remainder of the kids and they forced me to play a few more times since I was so good at being the enemy. It was a good enough excuse to practice my **Meditation** , **Sonar** , and **Stealth** skills and it had been a while since I had played hide-and-seek...at least I think it had cause I couldn't honestly remember. Nevertheless, I played along; unfortunately the quest didn't reward me for the extra times I played so I had to be satisfied with the increase in my skills.

 **Gamer's Body (Passive) Lvl 10:**

 **10% increase to HP, and CP regeneration rate**

 **Meditation (Active) Lvl 5 [48.67%].**

 **Meditation is a skill created through continuous inner focus. Meditation helps to sharpen focus and order thoughts, and it increases clarity of mind and awareness of the body.**

 **Passively increase INT by 10%.**

 **Passively increase WIS by 10%.**

 **HP, and CP regeneration increase by 50% when active.**

 **(NOTE: Cannot be activated during combat. At higher levels, you are able to better sit still and the rate of HP and CP regeneration increases.)**

 **Chakra Sonar (Passive/Active) LV 18 [5.45%] CP: 5 per pulse**

 **DEFAULT SETTING: (1 pulse every 5 seconds)**

 **MAXIMUM RANGE: (180 meters)**

 **Stealth (Active: OFF) lvl 10 [23.45%]**

 **Stealth infiltration, avoidance, and concealment ability are at 10%.**

 **For stronger opponents, -2% for each level they surpass you by**

All the running around really helped level up my **Gamer's Body** skill which was really going to help me down the line. We were now following the pathway back to the entrance of the park where the matron was most likely waiting for us and the other children.

"_and you were like an actual ninja! I couldn't even see you until you got me. How did you do it Yoru?!"

"...Practice" Was my short reply. Apparently, I was some sort of badass to these kids now that I had displayed my dominance in hide-and-seek (I refuse to acknowledge it as anything else). Apparently getting the drop on them like a ninja everytime we played convinced them I was cool_not that they were wrong though. If it wasn't for the fact that they were so young and had almost no awareness of their surroundings, I don't think that I could have been able to sneak up on them as often as I did. They made amazing practice dummies for the skill though so I wasn't complaining.

"_hey! Do you think you could teach me?!"

"...maybe."

Brat two spoke up at this, "man that's no fair, you're always so nice to Emi."

"That's probably because she's nice to me and it also helps that she is adorable." I stayed with a blank face. The girl in question squirmed under the attention and looked on with a bashful face.

"WE'RE SORRY!" All the brats chorused together.

I quirked a brow at them and looked on in interest. With a chortle, I waved my hand back, "yeah yeah I forgive you, now let's hurry up and get to where the Matron is waiting for us." Since they looked so remorseful I decided to not refer to them as brats but instead as kids.

"So will you teach us now?!"

"Ahh wait me first!"

"HEY, I ASKED BEFORE YOU BOTH!"

I ignored whatever else was going on behind me and continued moving. Eventually, we came back to the area where the Matron had been waiting for us and made our way back to the Orphanage.

* * *

I took a shower as I thought about my day. After coming home from the Orphanage, we all ate lunch and I helped clean up the plates again since I didn't really have anything better to do. Being a 4 year old allowed me a lot of free time as I didn't have any responsibilities to worry about for a while.

There really want much I could do during the day, however, I planned to make of my night. I was pretty sure that **Gamer's Mind** allowed me to survive without any sleep so I needed to take advantage of that and work on my skills and at the same time try to create new ones.

I turned off the warm water and dried myself off before putting on my snuggly 1-piece pajama...bite me. With that went over to my room and into my bed where I kept a small stack of leaves.

I picked them up during my time at the park after thinking about what skills I could practice indoors and it dawned on me how suitable this skill was to practice indoors plus, it wasn't hard to sneak some leaves in either.

I looked at the leaf in my hand and immediately placed it on my forehead before closing my eyes and feeling around for my chakra once more. I had already gotten a feel for my chakra this afternoon allowing me to more easily direct the flow into my forehead.

Ping!

 **Congratulations! You have created a new skill!**

 **Leaf Concentration Practice (Passive) Lvl 1**

 **The Leaf Concentration Technique is an introductory chakra control exercise taught to all academy students. This training method is done by placing a leaf over your forehead and directing your chakra onto the leaf, using it as a focal point. Every level, a new leaf can be added. This technique helps hone your concentration.**

 **Increases CC by 1%**

 **Uses: 15 CP per min**

 **You have gained +1 ENGY!**

Due to all the activities I had done throughout the day, my **STR, VIT, DEX,** and **ENGY** stat had increased by a bit. It wasn't much, but it was definitely something I welcomed. The fact that chakra control exercises could also help increase my **ENGY** was very helpful and provided me with a different approach to increasing my chakra.

' _Status'_

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Race: Human?**

 **Level: Lvl 1 Next Level: 75/200**

 **HP: 400/400 Regen: (4.4 per min)**

 **CP: 400/400 Regen: (4.4 per min)**

 **CC: 21%**

 **STR: 6**

 **VIT: 7**

 **DEX: 6**

 **INT: 12.1**

 **WIS: 11**

 **ENGY: 7  
**

 **Points: 6**

 **Ryo: 1000**

I was very happy with the small increases I managed today as I had managed to double my **CP** and increase my other stats by a good margin for the little work I did. I looked back down at my leaf as I mentally did some calculations. Since my **CC** was at 21%, that meant that I would be using about 4.7 times more chakra for any given technique. The **Leaf Concentration Technique** used 15 **CP** per min which for me meant around 70 **CP** per min. Taking into account my regen rate of 4.4 **CP** per min and my 400 **CP** worth of chakra, my skill cost a total of around 65.6 **CP** per minute and I would be able to continuously use it for around 6 minutes before I suffered from chakra exhaustion.

Just to be safe I planned on stopping a little bit before that, in order to prevent myself from getting a case of chakra exhaustion. I knew that when the body had no chakra left, it would die and I wasn't sure if my version of **Gamer's Body** would protect me from dying when I had zero chakra left. It was best not to chance it.

With that, around 5.5 minutes passed going by the amount of chakra I had left. I made sure to check my status at regular intervals but even then I felt myself getting tired. It sucked how my crappy control caused me to get tired so quickly, so I took this time to practice my **Meditation** skill **.** I might as well be killing two birds with one stone while I had the time.

I felt myself lapse in a state of concentration and I could feel my chakra regenerating at a greater rate but to be honest, it wasn't a large increase by any stretch of the imagination. My current natural regen rate for my **HP** and **CP** was 4.4 per min. Actively meditating increased that rate to 6 per min, still, it was better than nothing. It took me a little less than an hour before I was able to regenerate my chakra and it was the longest hour I had ever experienced.

Seriously, it took me only 6 minutes to run out of chakra but 10x that amount of time to regenerate it to full capacity. The only upside to this crap was that I was leveling some skills, but who knew getting strong would be so tedious? The increase to **Meditation** 's level somewhat lessened the time it took for me to regenerate my chakra, but it definitely was not enough.

With that, I took up my leaf and pressed it upon my forehead and went through another round of boredom. I distanced myself from the surroundings and instead focused on the internal of my body.

I felt the chakra sloshing in my core and flowing through my body. With greater concentration, I forced my chakra to flow upwards towards my head but met with resistance. My own life energy was resisting my pull and command as it sought to flow freely, but I couldn't have it. So I redouble my efforts and sank into a deep concentration to the point where I was able to my mind was crowded with the single thought of leveling up this skill.

I felt some sort of mental switch turn on and suddenly, I could feel my energy circulating in the direction I wanted it to go. I felt my skills improve rapidly and the feeling I was getting was exhilarating. I hardly noticed when my hand instinctively grabbed more leaves to stick on my head and I couldn't even feel the strain that focusing on multiple points on my head should have given me.

I was so deep in concentration that I barely noticed my chakra go critical and dig into the low double digits until my body's natural reaction of exhaustion overcame me. I was begrudgingly forced to exit my enhanced state of concentration, but no sooner did I notice a dull throbbing in my head and a slight dampness on my body.

I couldn't even describe that experience in words, but it was definitely novel. I felt like I was in my own world where the passage of time was meaningless and I could actually feel my skills improve quickly. Comparing this to before where I barely noticed any improvement in this when they leveled up. The only thing I was upset about was that this state barely lasted and yet I felt exhausted. What the hell was that!?

 **Congratulations for Achieving a state of 'Hyperfocus'**

 **Hyperfocus (Active) Level 2 [64.57%]**

 **Hyperfocus is a state achieved through the combination of 'Meditation' and another skill that is compatible. Compatible skills mainly include those that do not require any movement to use or execute. Hyperfocus drastically increases the rate at which those skills level up by increasing brain activity to an extreme. By focusing your all your brain activity on a singular skill, you essentially 'Meditate' with that skill in mind. The user burns through CP more when in this state due to the extremely rapid use of the compatible skill. Leveling of this skill will increase the amount of time you can spend in this state as well as increase the number of times you can use it per day.**

 **USAGE: (1 per day)**

 **DURATION (2.64 minutes)**

Ping! Ping! Ping!

 _ **Congratulations! 'Leaf Concentration Practice' has leveled up by 3!**_

 _ **Congratulations! 'Meditation' has leveled up by 2!**_

 **Leaf Concentration Practice (Passive) Lvl 4 [23.43%]**

 **The Leaf Concentration Technique is an introductory chakra control exercise taught to all academy students. This training method is done by placing a leaf over your forehead and directing your chakra onto the leaf, using it as a focal point. Every level, a new leaf can be added. This technique helps hone your concentration.**

 **Increases CC by 4%**

 **Uses: 15 CP per min**

 **Meditation (Active) Lvl 7 [1.67%].**

 **Passively increase INT by 14%.**

 **Passively increase WIS by 14%.**

 **HP and CP regeneration increase by 70% when active.**

 **(NOTE: Cannot be activated during combat. At higher levels, you are able to better sit still and the rate of HP and CP regeneration increases.**

I nodded in appreciation at the increases I made. In that one sitting of less than 3 minutes, I had increased my **CC** by an additional 3% and my **Meditation** skill by a couple levels. Even though I was completely drained as of now, my excitement barely wavered. I was only slightly upset about the limitations of the skill but the benefits all but made up for it. Furthermore, if I was reading this correctly, even if I was able to use this skill for a much longer period of time, it still would have burned through my chakra pool at the same rate, so I had to increase my **ENGY** in order to get the best out of this ability.

I deposited my thoughts to the back of my head as I focused on restoring my chakra. I didn't feel tired even though it was pretty late at night, which was a good sign that **Gamer's Mind** was effectively keeping me as an insomniac as long as I wanted to stay awake, yet without any of the negative repercussions.

My heart was still quite excited and I couldn't wait to practice that skill again tomorrow. I had no idea what the next day would throw my way, but as long as I was given time to grow strong and train, then I was sure that I would be able to tackle the obstacles in my way.

* * *

 **First thing's first, I would like to thank the guys who continued to favorite and follow me. Almost every day, my email alert would sound telling me that another person either favorited/followed me, my old story, or both and I really appreciate that.**

 **Now then, sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out but I said I would do so around this time. For starters, I do plan to continue this for a while and I am heavily invested in this story as compared to my previous one, so hold me to that. Next, due to school and stuff, I haven't been able to stockpile the 20 chapters I wanted to, so, I'm going to release a chapter either 1-2 times a week, depending on whether I can complete a new chapter in that time frame, up until I complete the first arc of this fanfic (around 23 chapters, maybe a little more).**

 **Last but not least I would appreciate some comments and I want to hear your thoughts on what I can do to improve my writing. Flames are not appreciated so don't write any…who am I kidding someone's going to flame me right after this first chapter, so if you are going to flame me at least give me some idea on how I can improve or what I did wrong. For example, if you're going to tell me to shoot/kill myself, give me a good reason as to why I should do that then maybe I'll consider it, probably…definitely not but you guys get the idea. Alright until next time.**


	2. Chapter 2

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction. Another thing to note is that I am too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 _I opened my eyes and took stock of the environment I had found myself in. The best way to describe my environment was that it seemed so...structured. It was a world made of gears and parts that fit together to create a complete working unit. It almost felt...mechanical in a way, how everything was set up._

" _ **You like the scenery?"**_

 _I whipped my head in the direction of the voice and standing in front of me was...me? He looked exactly the same as I did except that instead of donning silver irises, his were golden and slitted, kind of like a snake's. I was kind of jealous of them though, they looked so cool…_

" _Who-"_

" _ **In short and simple terms, you."**_

" _Did you just-"_

" _ **-Read your mind?."**_

 _I stared at him oddly, unsure of what to do or say as it was apparently meaningless for me to do so._

" _ **Haha don't be so startled kid after all this…"**_ _My look-alike paused and gestured to the surroundings, "_ _ **is our soul…well, at least its surface layer. I pretty much live here so anything you think, I know."**_

 _I looked around with interest and took in the surroundings. There were so many questions running through my mind that I didn't even know when to start. Like what did he mean when he said 'our' soul? Who was he? What else did he know?_

" _ **Relax kid or you'll short-circuit your brain…speaking of, I shouldn't be out here for too long."**_

" _W-Wait!" I said, catching the guy's attention, "You nev-"_

" _ **Who I am is irrelevant.** **As I am simply a shadow of my past self, you** **can just call me J."**_ _The man spoke before continuing,_ " _ **As for the other question, I brought you here because the sooner we met face to face the better. Furthermore, I just so happen to be doing a small adjustment to your body, so this was the perfect time to meet."**_

 _I digested his words for a moment before asking, "…Then what now?"_

" _ **Now…"**_ _The man started before snapping his fingers causing a clock to pop up in front of us. He glanced at it for a moment before continuing,_ " _ **It's about time for you to leave."**_

 _My eyes widened and I opened my mouth to protest, however, my mind reading doppelgänger replied before I could ask._

" _ **The next time we will meet will be done through your own power. Level up Meditation to 100 and you'll be able to come here on your own instead of me having to drag you here."**_ _He paused before looking into the distance and following his gaze, I noticed a streak of black lightning appear and bounce off the "gears" in my soul._ "… _ **There's still a lot of work I have to do so I can't keep these meetings sustained for too long. The system isn't ready to run on autopilot just yet…"**_

 _Before I could even question him about what he meant, And my body started to fade from the environment as whatever force keeping me in place dissipated. Right before my body left, I noticed my doppelgänger turn to me with a slight smile as he said._

" _ **I'll see you in a few years Yoru. Stay safe and don't get killed."**_

* * *

 **You have slept in a bed. Your HP and CP have fully recovered.**

I groggily woke up and had to fight a grimace as a pounding headache assaulted me. My hand came up to massage my temple in a futile attempt at dulling my aching cranium. I quickly shook my head in order to clear it and shakily stood up from my resting position, idly noting that my body felt slightly…different. " _I wonder what he meant by 'adjustments'..."_

Figuring that sitting on my bed wasn't going to help me figure that mystery out, I got up and stretched a little bit before making my way towards the bathroom, intent on understanding what had changed physically about my body. After arriving and entering the bathroom, I made my way to the mirror and froze…I was _perfect_. If yesterday I looked kinda cute, today I looked s adorable that it shouldn't have been possible. For one thing, I had some definition on my body even though I was only four and that should _not_ have been possible or even look right, yet somehow I made it work. My face was the perfect shape and had perfect symmetry on both sides and everything just _fit_. My silver eyes almost seemed to glow and my white hair looked perfectly well kept. My brows were a tiny bit thinner but perfectly symmetrical and I had a little less baby fat on my face than I did yesterday showcasing some hidden sharpness in my jaws which would no doubt become more pronounced as I aged. You couldn't really tell unless you looked more closely than I was comfortable with, but it was there and I could tell. I was _inhumanly_ adorable and I wasn't embarrassed to admit that, the only problem was how I was going to hide my changes from the Orphanage Personnel?

The changes I had were quite noticeable and there was no way I could hide it from them...I tore a large sheet of cloth from my navy blue shirt and wrapped it around my face. The makeshift mask covered the portion of my face from the top of my nose downwards till it reached my neck. It wasn't perfect and I would definitely have to get an actual face mask, but It was enough for my purposes, plus I think I made it work better than Kakashi. I really didn't want to have to explain to everyone my physical changes, plus I kinda thought that the mask look was pretty cool.

"… _Maybe I could say it was like a Kekkei Genkai?"_

With that, I brushed my teeth.

Obviously without the cloth on.

I came back to the room soon after and got a change of clothes. I didn't have many, but it was enough for me so I didn't complain. I laid down on my bed and decided to practice my **Meditation** a little more before the sun fully rose. Fun fact: you actually didn't need to be crossed legged while you meditated; that was just a generalization. The most important thing was how comfortable you were in your position and needless to say, I was more comfortable laying down that sitting cross-legged anyday. I was really curious about who my look-alike was and what we were doing here so I took his advice to heart and decided that I would practice meditation whenever I could.

After some time, one of the Orphanage personnel (who was kind of cute I might add) came into the room to wake up the sleeping kids. I opened my eyes knowing that she would eventually come my way and when she did, she had this look on her face.

 **Kotoe, Orphanage Assistant**

 **Lvl - 62**

 **Rep - 70**

"...Is something on my face." My face and tone betrayed no emotion. I filed away her high level for later.

She quirked a brow. "Do I actually want to know?"

"I think it looks kinda cool…"

And with that, she moved on.

After getting everyone up, we were made to set the table up for breakfast. It was interesting how we were taught some basic home skills even at such a young age.

I was now eating breakfast with the rest of the orphanage kids and I honestly didn't know how I was going to waste my day. I could go to the library but I think I needed like an escort or at least someone who was willing to put up with me. Most 4-year-olds couldn't read books with more than a paragraph a page, but then again kids were forced to mature quickly in this world. I mean Kakashi was a genin at 5 (at least if my memory wasn't wrong) so he had to be able to do what shinobi were required to know as a genin.

I gulped down my OJ as it really started to hit me how boring being 4 was. Why couldn't I have regained consciousness (Or whatever had happened that caused me to forget most of my 4 years of life) when I was in the academy or something. At the very least I would have something interesting to look forward to.

I quickly finished my breakfast and washed my plates. Hmm, Maybe I could sneak out or something if we went out later today. I could find my way back to the orphanage at any time so I wasn't worried about getting lost. Hmm yeah, that could work.

After putting the plates on the rack, I made my way to my room and just relaxed on my bed. No one expected much from us kids. Though I did notice that I was treated slightly more maturely than the other kids my age and even older. Probably just due to how I acted because apparently, I was a complete loner before, but I always did what I was told to do without complaining. As a matter of fact, Kotoe couldn't tell me a moment when she saw me cry, though she did admit that she wasn't always here and that this was more of a part-time job for her.

"...Yoru."

I signed and opened an eye as I was forced from my meditative state. Well, speak of the devil.

"…Kotoe." I began as I looked towards her. "…Don't you know that children my age need sleep to grow?"

There was mirth in her expression as she replied, "The fact that you refer to yourself as a child even though you don't act like one is interesting don't you think?"

Was she always like this? " …what can I help you with Miss Kotoe?"

"I just need some help fixing up the beds and I know that you are the only one who can actually do it correctly."

 _ **Quest Alert!**_

 _ **Bead Head**_

 _ **Miss Kotoe is a part-time Orphanage worker and she requires (demands) your assistance for setting up the beds. Just make sure they are well made and presentable.**_

 _ **Rewards: 25 XP. +1 Stat Point.**_

 _ **Failure: Decreases Rep with Miss Konoe. It would not be in your best health interests to fail**_

 **Do You Accept?**

 **Y/N**

I sighed and got up from my bed. "Fine, but I'm going to mess up my bed anyway, so I won't bother fixing it."

"That's fine." She said as she looked satisfied. Why couldn't she just ask the other personnel to help her?

I decided I didn't care enough to find out, so, with my face mask still on, I made up some of the beds as Kotoe did her end. It didn't take too long to fix them up and with a little bit of time, we were all finished.

 _ **Quest Alert!**_

 _ **Bead Head**_

 _ **Rewards: 25 XP. +1 Stat Point.**_

Seemingly satisfied, Kotoe let a smile don her features before regarding me for a moment. "So, do you have any plans for today?"

"I'm 4…"

I honestly thought that alone would answer her question, after all, what kind of 4 years old has plans for the day? The only thing we could really do well was eat and sleep. Apparently, she didn't think so.

"We both know that you don't act 4. Come on I promise I won't tell on you?" She responded with a wink.

I decided that I might as well let her know what I was planning on doing. It wasn't like any harm would come to telling her and she seemed to treat me more as a boy and less as a child. "...I was planning on ditching everyone if we went outside. I'm so bored you wouldn't even imagine. Maybe I might find something interesting along the way."

She looked at me carefully before smiling while shaking her head, "Sometimes, I don't even know what is going on through your head. You're a pretty interesting kid you know?" But then she leveled me a stern gaze. "Just make sure you don't cause any trouble for anyone ok?"

"Yes ma'am." I guess she was satisfied enough since she just nodded and left me to my own devices. Now with that out of the way, I could meditate in peace until it was time for the rest of the kids and I to leave.

Hopefully I would see something interesting.

* * *

Good news is that I was able to successfully ditch the group of orphans and managed to evade Emi, though I kinda felt bad for the poor girl. I'll make it up to her sometime. We had left the orphanage after eating lunch and we were to go on a little walk around the village just to relax and stuff.

Bad news was that I was kinda maybe definitely lost. I may have taken a couple backroads and shortcuts around the village so that I could see as much of it as possible in as little time. Only problem was that I didn't actually _know_ where these shortcuts lead to and asking villagers for directions either resulted in me being ignored, or if they did answer, I didn't actually know what to make of the directions.

I didn't have eidetic memory so even if they pointed me at some places and would tell me the rest of the directions, I would forget about which left I was supposed to take at which street. Why did I believe that I knew my way around the village when I had only been to the park?

Well that was how I found myself in a forested area of the village. How I went from populated to forested was beyond me, but hey maybe I could use this place to practice some things? I eventually came across a clearing and damn did it look beautiful. I could see the peaks of two small mountains where the valley in between them could hold the setting sun, creating a wonderful picturesque view. I noted the three cylindrical wooden beams jutting from the ground around which were some broken or damaged kunai. Finally, there was a clear pond ahead of me that just added more beauty to the picture.

I got myself out of those thoughts and looked at the area. I might as well start doing some other forms of practice and start making some new skills. I walked up to a tree and placed a foot on it while channeling chakra in that direction. Not too much that I would explode off, but not too little that I would just fall.

When I thought that I had put enough chakra in my foot, I tried to stand...then promptly fell on my ass.

" _Oww."_

I grumbled as I rubbed my sore behind and looked at the tree sternly and decided that I would not leave this area till I could step up on that tree. With more determination that I thought possible, I decided to give myself a running start and channeled chakra into the soles of my foot as soon as it came in contact with the tree.

I promptly cracked the tree,

And fell unto the ground.

Ping!

 **Chakra Reinforcement (Active/Passive) Lvl 1 [34.26%].**

 **Chakra Reinforcement allows the user to focus chakra internally through their body for added offensive, defensive, and evasive capabilities. It is a basic chakra manipulation skill that becomes practically second nature the more you use it making it effectively Passive.**

 **Grants a 1% increase in STR when active**

 **Grants a 1% increase in DEX when active**

 **Increase Durability by 0.5% when active.**

 **Cost: 100 CP**

 **Gamer's Mind** saved me from acting out at this embarrassment which told me that getting angry wasn't going to help me win this war against nature. I decided to look at the bright side and appreciate the skill I made, though this told me that I was obviously using more chakra than I should have in that last stunt.

I took a deep breath and tried again. And again. And again. And again. And again.

 **Chakra Reinforcement has leveled up by 1!**

 **Chakra Reinforcement has leveled up by 1!**

 **Gamer's Body has leveled up by 1!**

 **Gamer's Body Has leveled up by 1!**

Until finally-

Ping!

 **You have created a new skill!**

 **Tree Climbing (Active) Lvl 1 [34.52%]**

 **By using your chakra to stick to surfaces you can now move more freely and better use your chakra.**

 **Increases CC by 1%**

 **Uses: 25 CP per min**

" _That took much longer than expected…"_ I thought as I created the skill after all that time. It had taken me a couple hours from me accidentally using **Chakra Reinforcement** and wasting my chakra to having to meditate in order to restore my **CP**. I never thought it would be so difficult to climb up the tree with chakra, though I did wonder how I knew to do that…I shook my head before finding my way back to the base of the tree.

With that all set and done I decided to take a break and look over my stats and skills to see what miniscule improvements I made throughout this time.

 **Chakra Reinforcement (Active) Lvl 3 [34.26%].**

 **Grants a 3% increase in STR when active**

 **Grants a 3% increase in DEX when active**

 **Increase Durability by 1.5% when active.**

 **Cost: 100 CP**

 **Gamer's Body (Passive) Lvl 12:**

 **12% increase to HP and CP regeneration rate**

 **12% Increase to HP and CP**

 **Meditation (Active) Lvl 15 [48.67%].**

 **Passively increase INT by 30%.**

 **Passively increase WIS by 30%.**

 **HP and CP regeneration increase by 150% when active.**

 **(NOTE: Cannot be activated during combat. At higher levels you are able to better sit still and the rate of HP and MP regeneration increases.**

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Race: Human?**

 **Level: Lvl 1 Next Level: 100/200**

 **HP: 504/504 Regen: (5.64 per min)**

 **CP: 100/504 Regen: (5.64 per min)**

 **CC: 30%**

 **STR: 7**

 **VIT: 8**

 **DEX: 8**

 **INT: 14.1**

 **WIS: 13**

 **ENGY: 8**

 **Points: 7**

 **Ryo: 1000**

 _ **(NOTE: Do the changes made to your physique, 'Gamer's Body' has been improved. The improvements have been shown accordingly.)**_

" _neat…"_ I hummed in thought as I gazed at the improvements. So this is what that guy had meant by 'adjustments' to my body. My **Gamer's Body** not also increased my base **HP** and **CP** instead of just their regeneration rates which was much more helpful than the cosmetic changes I had gotten. It wasn't that the physical improvements to my face and body weren't _good_ , they just weren't really that useful to me at my current age.

I stretched my limbs and looked at the sun. There was still a lot of daylight left and for whatever reason, I felt that Kotoe would cover for me. Call it intuition. Now I wonder what else I coul-

"I'M LETTING YOU KNOW RIGHT NOW THAT I WILL BECOME HOKAGE SOMEDAY."

"Hmmm. Good on you Obito."

"You are definitely mocking me Kakashi!"

"...No those are just your insecurities."

"Obito you shouldn't start arguments with Kakashi. We are a team now after all."

"Aww Rin, you always take his side. It's no fair."

"I'm happy you all are so lively but we still have a test to take...and it looks like we have an unexpected guest."

At that I could, feel 4 pairs of eyes looking at me either in curiosity, interest, or disinterest. And it was with this introduction that I gazed upon 4 forms. The first one had spiky silver hair slightly oriented to his left side and most of his face was covered with a face mask which looked a lot better than the impromptu face mask I was currently still wearing. I almost kind of forgot I even had it on. He wore a blue uniform with a brown sword strap that created an "X" shape across his shirt. He had black eyes and a Konoha headband strapped to his head.

The next notable individual was a cute female of average height for her age. She had straight brown hair, which was cut in a chin-length bob that framed her face, and brown eyes. She also had a rectangular purple marking on either side of her cheeks. She wore a long-sleeved black top and a light purple apron-skirt, under which she wore black shorts. She also wore the standard Konoha forehead protector, along with a pair of sandals, red stockings that stopped at her thighs, and a small, red bracelet on her left wrist. As for why I was so descriptive of her attire, well it was because she was a cute girl, bite me.

Next to her was a boy that had black eyes and short, spiky, black hair. He wore a long sleeved blue uniform and a blue jacket with an orange collar and trimmings. The jacket was fastened to the rest of the outfit by two buttons on the collar. He also wore a white belt, shinobi sandals, the standard Konoha dark blue forehead protector, and a pair of goggles with orange lenses connected to ear protectors.

Those three appeared to be about double my age-about 8 or 9.

And finally, the most interesting of the bunch was a man with bright, blue eyes and spiky, blond hair. He had jaw-length bangs framing either side of his face and would be considered to be very handsome. His attire consisted of a standard Konoha uniform with two bands on both of his sleeves, a green flak jacket, blue forehead protector, and blue sandals.

It didn't even take me a second to recognize those three individuals as Kakashi, Rin, Obito and Minato respectively and as we looked and observed each other, I finally came to a couple of realizations.

Good news was that I finally realized where in the timeline I was.

Bad news was that it was around the time of the 3rd Shinobi war.

In summary, fuck my life.

It was then that Obito placed a hand over his mouth in a mock whispering fashion and said not so subtly, "Hey Kakashi, I think this kid is trying to jack your gig. You should file for copyright."

"Hn."

"...I think I should sue you for copyright."

"..."

As I watched Obito's actions I took a good look at him like a _good_ look at him. There was this feeling of...trepidation my body felt as I looked at him, yet for the life of me I could, not understand why. I brought up my knowledge of the Anime to understand where this feeling was coming from, but I ended up with a blank. For whatever reason my memories of certain parts of this world were foggy and I could only recall the character names and their basic descriptions, but not who they fully were as individuals or what they would be like in the future.

For example, I was pretty sure that Minato was going to become the Fourth Hokage, but when I tried to think about anything past that, I came up with a blank. Likewise I recognized Kakashi, but when I thought about his future or what would happen to him, nothing came to me. The same thing with Rin and Obito and pretty much everyone else I put my mind to. It was as if my memory of their futures just did not exist and all I knew about them was some preliminary knowledge about who they were as of this time period. I could remember that Kushina was the current 9-Tails Jinchuuriki and that she was good with seals, but anything more than that came up as a blank.

I distanced myself from those distracting thoughts and decided to make my presence known. "…you act more like a child than anyone else here." I spoke blandly.

The black haired boy grinned and pointed to his headband, "You see this? This means that I am officially a shinobi of the Leaf and no longer considered a kid. As a matter of fact, it's the first stepping stone to my path of becoming Hokage." His grin widened, "As a matter of fact this also means that I am your superior and you can't talk back to your superior." He looked especially smug as he smug.

"...You mean to say that as long as you have a headband, you can boss around civilians and they can't talk back?"

"W-what n-no that's not what I meant."

"…Isn't the premise the same? Your headband apparently gives you the privilege of talking down to those without one and we plebeians can't fight back. Am I right?" I tilted my head as I watched him grow increasingly restless. "…I loathe to see the day where you become Hokage if that is your policy on the relations between civilians and ninja's."

"Wh-What?! N-no! Arrg." He grit his teeth as he glared at me. "You know that's not what I meant you're just putting words in my mouth." His eyes then widened as he looked at me then at Kakashi then back at me. He pointed comically at the both of us as he exclaimed, "Nooo there're two of you!"

"Obito…" Rin called in exasperation. I noticed that Kakashi was sizing me up and I was doing the same.

Ping!

 **You have created a new skill!**

 **Observe (Passive/Active) Lv 2 [9.89%]**

 **Through continuous observation, a skill to observe objects, situations, and people was generated that allows for quick information gathering. The higher the skill, the greater the data obtained.**

 **Information of individuals 2 Lvls higher than you is now available**

 **Costs 5 CP**

I'm embarrassed to say that I completely forgot about getting this skill, though in my defense, I could already see the basic information of individuals before I had this skill so it just slipped my mind.

 **Name: Kakashi Hatake**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: Lvl 23**

 **Rep: 2**

There was also the fact that everyone here was a lot higher level than me so this skill wasn't even helpful to begin with.

 **Name: Minato Namikaze**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: Lvl 115**

 **Rep: 10**

 **Name: Obito Uchiha**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: Lvl 15**

 **Rep: 5**

 **Name: Rin Nohara**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: Lvl 15**

 **Rep: 10**

Ohh well, I could always train this skill anyway.

"_HEY ARE YOU IGNORING ME?!" Obito yelled at my direction.

I looked at him in confusion, "Hmm? Did you say something?"

Obito's eyes widened in horror while Minato and Rin tried to stifle their laughter. I could have sworn that Kakashi grinned under that mask, but I couldn't be sure.

Obito regained his bearing with a twitching eye. "I was asking what you were doing here?"

Hmm fair question, "I found this place unused and decided. What are you doing here?"

That seemed to boost his confidence somewhat. "As I said before I'm finally an official shinobi of the Leaf." then he grumbled, "But apparently there's another test that no one else talked to me about. Talk about unfair."

It was at this time that Minato finally made his presence known with a few chuckles, "Come on settle down Obito it isn't that bad." He then looked my way, "But he does ask an important question. Why are you out here? Where are your parents."

Minato could probably kill me in the flick of the wrist so I decided that honesty was the best policy and to not give him any sass. "I was teaching myself how to climb trees. Also, Orphan."

"Pfft." Obito clutched his stomach in laughter though Minato looked at me with some pity but soon it turned to interest and he smiled.

"Show me."

I shrugged and stood up as I dusted my pants.

"W-wait Sensei! What's so special about climbing trees?! Anyone can climb a tree!."

I could hear Rin chastised him, "Obito you shouldn't make fun of the poor kid. He's probably just here to play."

Minato just regarded them with a smile, "You are correct Obito, but you should know that there are two ways to climb a tree. You can use both your hands and feet...or you can use just your feet."

Rin and Obito's eyes opened wide in understanding.

"B-but…"

"But how would he know how to do that?!" The Uchiha screamed in surprise. "That's not something we learned till we were in the academy! He can't be older than 5?!"

"...I was a chunin at 5 though."

"B-but you are a special case Kakashi." Obito stuttered though it was easy to note that he had a hard time stating that.

The blond Jounin raised a brow, "And why should Kakashi be the only special case?"

Obito stuttered and slumped down in defeat.

From my new vantage point on the tree, parallel to the ground, I regarded Obito, "Also…I am 4." I didn't even think it was possible for him to slump further.

"Noooo! there ARE two of you."

Everyone else ignored the pouting Uchiha as they watched me climb up and down the tree a couple of times.

"Not bad kid." Minato started with a hand on his chin, "You must have been working on this for a while am I right?"

I grumbled in annoyance, "…It took me 2 hours to get this stupid exercise down. The good news is that I was able to make an attack on all the failures." I finished by pointing around at the multiple cracked trees though I noticed something wrong when no one said anything.

"...Why are you all so quiet?" Rin had stars in her eyes, Kakashi was actually paying attention to me, Minato looked slightly interested and Obito somehow had a rain cloud above his head. Interesting, did he have some variation of Storm Style?

The future 4th sighed, "No it's just that it usually takes a few days to a week to get down tree climbing to the level you have it down especially if you are new to using chakra."

"H-he must be exaggerating right sensei?" The poor black haired boy was in denial, though I didn't know that the technique was that hard.

"No, I could tell that he was upset by his speed of progress." Blue eyes locked to mine as he started looking at me in a new light. "Not bad kid, but you really shouldn't be here." I felt as if his gaze was looking past me into the distance before it refocused on me. "...well you should be fine if I show you the way out."

I nodded since it wasn't my place to impede on their training. After pointing me in the general direction I should take I was about to head out until-

"Obito Uchiha."

I looked back and noticed the Black-haired Obito was looking at me intently, renewed vigor on his gaze. "That's the name of the future Hokage."

Interesting. I glanced back at him lazily, "...Yorudan."

"I'm Rin Nohara." the brown haired girl stated with a smile

Kakashi landed his lazy gaze on mine, "Kakashi Hatake."

Then Minato smiled, "You can call me Minato. Maybe I'll work with you in the future?"

I nodded my head, "I would like that Mr. Minato. I hope you guys enjoy your training." and with that, I made my way through the forest in the general direction he pointed me towards.

I took a high vantage point on one of the taller trees every now and then in order to check my progress back to my destination. I climbed back to the ground to rest for a moment since my chakra was so low.

After a moment I stood up and dusted my pants.

" _I'm almost the-"_

My body suddenly froze as a foreboding feeling welled up inside of me. My heart rate screamed as I felt _something,_ but for the life of me, I could not understand what was putting me on edge.

It was at that instant that I felt a danger to my wellbeing and I hastily tried to dodge out of the way of whatever was being thrown my way.

It was too late.

" _urgh."_

I groaned in pain as a sharp stinging sensation came from my neck. My vision began to blur I felt my body impact the lukewarm dirt beneath me.

Ping!

 **Danger Sense (Passive) Lvl 10 [45.0%].**

 **Sensing danger is a natural survival instinct. The higher the skill level, the earlier it can sense danger. It allows the user to sense when a bad thing might happen.**

 **10% chance of detecting Danger.**

Ping!

 **Poison Resistance (Passive) Lvl 1 [35.0%]**

 **Poison Resistance Increases your resistance to poisons. As you get infected with more forms of poison, their effectiveness to you will decrease.**

 **Decreases effectiveness of all poisons by 1%**

I couldn't even appreciate the new skills as I thought about my situation as my vision darkened. Well, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to die...at least not yet. If my assailant wanted me dead, there would have been no need to poison me, he/she could have just as easily cut my head off.

I was more than frustrated that I had been targeted for some reason unknown to me.

" _Why can't my life be easy…?"_

* * *

Minato gazed at his excitable new team with some pride. They had passed the bell test and he could tell that they were all excited about their results even if one of them had a harder time showing it.

"HA! Not even a secret test can keep me from my goal of becoming Hokage!"

" _*sigh*_ Obito..."

"Hn."

"Oi! You making fun of me Kakashi!?"

"..."

The future Hokage smiled as he gazed upon their impressional forms, before looking thoughtfully at the direction the young boy left. Aside from the boy, he had noticed another lifeform in the area, but he knew it wasn't an enemy since he could feel no malicious intent from the individual. He thought it might have been the kid's hidden bodyguard or something but ruled that out when he found out the silver-eyed boy was an orphan. There was only one other reason why a shinobi would be out here in the training field without his knowledge and that would be if they were stalking something or _someone_.

" _Root."_ The blond-haired Jonin thought. He knew how they operated for the most part and wasn't surprised they were stalking a kid so talented. With war rearing its ugly head, it was no surprise that they were taking more direct methods in acquiring talented prospects such as the young boy. A child no older than 4 with such maturity and aptitude was very rare and the only other individuals he knew with such character were his little Silver Haired Genin and Mikoto's own kid.

He was shaken from his thoughts when his team approached him and Obito spoke up. "Hey sensei! Are we going to do missions now? Oo, maybe we can save a princess or something! Or save a country! Right! Right!?"

"Weelll…."

The poor kid had no idea.

* * *

 **I just want to get this out of the way before I get assaulted with PM's. I know that canonically, Itachi is about 9 or so years younger than Kakashi, but this isn't canon now is it? My thing is kind of AU and so the characters might act slightly different than their canon counterparts.**

 **On a couple other notes, I wasn't the greatest fan about how this chapter turned out but I didn't really know what to change.**

 **Secondly, I'm going to upload stat sheets for every chapter for those who are interested. Except for maybe chapter 9 because I screwed that one up a little . We'll see**


	3. Chapter 3

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. Another thing to note is that I am too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like reading fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

"Hmm. So this is the child you told me about."

"Yes Lord Danzo, he has an exceptional ability to learn and create skills and he has displayed amazing maturity for his age."

"Intriguing. And you say he has also managed to display certain mastery over 2 of the 3 fundamental chakra control exercises? And by himself no less?"

"Yes Lord Danzo, but it would be best to ask him personally, after all, he has been awake for some time."

And with that, I decided to finally open my eyes. It took a second for me to adjust to the dim light and when I did, I took quick stock of the surroundings. Well, I wasn't at the Orphanage anymore which was obvious enough.

It was a simple room from what I could see and didn't have any extravagance to it. Dark brown walls, a desk, and two other people made up the room.

I groggily stood up, absently noting that I wasn't bound or anything, before staring at the two people before me.

The one to the left appeared as a frail, old man. He had black, shaggy hair, and his right eye was bandaged. Looking at his face, I noticed he had an x-shaped scar on his chin and he wore a white shirt, with a black or dark grey robe over the top of it covering to just over his right shoulder.

" _Danzo...Neat."_ I thought somewhat thankful that foggy memories still allowed me to remember his profile.

With that, I turned my gaze towards the other person in the room. The first thing of note was that she was a female. The second thing of note was that she had short, chestnut brown colored hair tied up into two mini-tails that laid on her shoulders. She had hazel colored eyes and fair skin with an enticing, mature body. Her breasts seemed to be in the C-cup range, but the most important thing of note-

"Kotoe."

-was that she was the maid in the Orphanage who looked after me. Well, I guess this explained her high level.

"I would ask why you kidnapped me, but it seems obvious enough." I started softly while appraising Danzo, "Bandages evident of either a horrific accident or most likely, given the state of this world, war. There's also the fact that you addressed him as 'Lord' indicating that he is of a much superior position to you. From the contents of your conversation, I assume that my peculiar talents interested you all enough to kidnap me."

I paused for a second before continuing, "The fact that I am not dead reinforces the thought that you want to make use of my capabilities. Then there's the fact that my movements have not been restricted of which I can only conclude that you either don't see me as a threat; you want me to more agreeable towards you; both; or you were neglectful, but I find that highly unlikely."

Kotoe was looking somewhat amused while Danzo still looked emotionless. Seeing that they hadn't moved to stop me from speaking, I continued, "And finally you had the decency to respect my privacy enough to leave my mask on. In conclusion, I can only imagine you want to use me for something beneficial for your cause. I don't know how long I have been out for, but I doubt I've left the hidden leaf village."

"Ohh? And why is that?" The Ninja/maid asked with a tilt of her lips.

"Well you have been watching me for a long time...no not me specifically but all the children in the orphanage, but I just so happened to catch your attention." I started, "If Hidden Leaf had allowed an individual of your caliber to not only sneak into the village but to also stay in their midst for who knows how long, then I would fear for the future of this village. Also, I'm dubious of the fact that an enemy would go through all the effort of sneaking into a hidden village, so that that they could work as an orphanage Maid. After all, if you want information on the state of a hidden village, working as a merchant, while old-fashioned, would allow you to get some information through gossip while keeping you relatively safe."

I continued without breaking stride, "If you wanted to infiltrate the villages ranks, well I highly doubt being an orphanage maid would get you far up. All this without even mentioning the fact that working at an orphanage would definitely require a background check to make sure the personnel isn't someone...uncouth. The risk would not be justified."

I stopped to see if I had missed something before remembering something with narrowed eyes, "I just remembered that Lord Minato had looked past me at the time as if he was looking at something or _someone_ else. I hadn't made note of it at the time and I'm sure no one else in my position would have, but it makes sense."

I paused while closely appraising Kotoe, "If you had been keeping your eye on me up until you attacked, then it stands to reason that you were at the training grounds when I was there. If that's the case then Lord Minato must have noticed you and if you were an enemy he would have either captured or killed you?"

"Lord Minato? What makes you believe that he is stronger than me?" The woman asked with a raised brow.

"...Instincts" _"Your level..."_ I said and thought simultaneously. "I feel a lot more afraid of him than I do of you, however-" I looked at Danzo, "I feel just as afraid of you as I do of him. In conclusion, you kidnapped me for some higher-up of the village and, given the shadiness of the whole thing, probably to use or train me for some secret organization."

 **For your astute observations, you have earned +10 INT and +10 WIS.**

Ping!

 **Congrats on creating a new skill!**

 **Lying (Active/Passive) Lvl 5 (38.86%)**

 **Your ability to lie to people without getting caught.  
This skill automatically comes into play when you lie.**

 **5% chance of success.**

 **-20% if the lie is too unbelievable**

" _Neat..."_

The room continued to lapse in silence as Konoe looked at me carefully as if appraising my words and Danzo stayed mute. He suddenly spoke, "And do you refer to Minato as 'Lord' because you fear his power?" He asked looking straight at me with his one eye.

I shook my head lightly, "No. I would say something about how respect is earned, but I believe that is a given. I consider him as such because even though he was clearly much stronger than me, he had the decency to treat me with respect even after I told him I was an orphan. I believe that since he treated me with respect, I would treat him with the respect he deserved."

Surprising both Konoe and me, Danzo _smirked_ , it was barely visible and you would have to squint to even notice that slight upturn of the lips, but it was definitely there, "You told me that he was impressive and mature for his age, but you failed to encapsulate the magnitude of his character. You should already know by now, Konoe, that when filing a mission report every variable must be carefully explained and key points must be emphasized. I am disappointed."

Clearly, he wasn't

The chestnut haired woman must have understood that point as she rolled her eyes and smiled, "I apologize Lord Danzo for my negligence. I will endeavor to never make the same mistake again."

Danzo's face turned to its normal apathetic facade, though it was a barely noticeable change, "See that you do. Now that we are all aware of why we are here, I would like to know your response."

I blinked, "You're giving me a choice?"

Danzo nodded, "It is a lot more productive to train someone who is willing to go through the effort. If you decline we will have to remove your memories of this encounter. You would have fallen unconscious from chakra exhaustion during your training and Konoe would have found you and returned you to the orphanage. Afterward, you would eventually go to the Shinobi academy due to your talents and become a shinobi of the leaf or you could live a life of a normal human being. In the end, this meeting would have never happened and you could live whatever life you choose to."

 _"That's..."_ I began to think. I knew my memory was foggy, but I was sure Danzo was much less agreeable..."I see, then I accept. I don't believe I can survive another day at the orphanage and I feel like the academy won't teach me all that you plan to have me learn."

"That is the best choice." Danzo started with a nod before looking at Konoe, "As for you, your negligence must not go without consequence." I swear there was a ghost of a smirk on his face as he continued, "As of this moment you are coming out of your inactive state and you will return to full duty as this boy's trainer and overseer. I expect that he will excel under your care."

Kotoe accepted with a smile, "I will endeavor to exceed your expectations, Lord Danzo. He will certainly blossom under my tutelage."

"Then we are finished." Danzo started. "I feel that it is unnecessary to mention, but I agree with your decision to train Yoru and he is yours to oversee as you see fit. Within reason of course. Now, you are dismissed."

"Thank you, Lord Danzo." The now active shinobi bowed before leaving the room and I followed her in stride. As soon as we left the room, however, Kotoe suddenly put a hand on my shoulder and I felt my surroundings twist.

I felt my legs buckle and my head spin before I was able to calm down my nausea, "That was uncalled for." I stated blandly.

"You took that better than I thought..." She muttered in disappointment before saying, "Always expect the unexpected."

"...Right."

With that, I took a look at my surroundings and noticed that I was in a well-lit living space. It was a well-kept establishment as everything was neat, orderly, and/or clean. The area of the place was small, most likely an apartment, with the kitchen connected directly to the living area. There was a small table in the dining area and a couple couches in the living room.

Finally, there were a couple of doors, most likely leading to a bathroom and a bedroom. All in all, it looked like a solid place to live for a single person.

"...nice place." I absentmindedly noted.

The woman I was addressing nodded, "Thank you. Now as you know I'll be your Teacher and I expect to be addressed as such. I will probably run you through the basics today, but we will truly start training tomorrow. Help yourself to any food or beverage in this house. Do you have any questions."

A couple actually, but I asked the only one I actually cared about for the moment, "Where will I sleep?"

She showed a slight smile as she answered, "Of course we need to grow closer together as Student and Teacher, so you will be sleeping with me."

I nodded simply, and she seemed pleased by my response before she looked at me curiously, "Why exactly do you have a mask? I'm genuinely curious if there's any other reason, but it's fine if you don't want to tell."

My gaze was unemotional as I replied, "….my face changed…a lot"

I noted that one of her brows shop up in curiosity as she asked, "Why would your face suddenly change? And how bad could it be that you would hide it under a mas-" She paused as I removed my mask and showed her my face. "You definitely look different from before...how?"

"Probably bloodline or something, though I have the feeling that making me look good isn't all that it does." I replied.

She nodded with a thoughtful look, "All bloodlines have some kind of use especially ones that change your physical structure. Tell me, have you felt any differences in your body?"

I decided to tell her a _partial_ truth. It would help me down the line if she understood that my physical limits were very little and that she wouldn't have to worry about overtraining me. "I've felt like I have more stamina and I think my chakra has increased a little."

She praised me for a moment before asking, "flare it."

And so I did.

She looked at me with a lot of interest, "This is actually quite amazing, almost like an Uzumaki, but not quite…" she muttered under her breath for a moment before continuing, "Your chakra pool seems to have increased by around 10-15% since the last time I felt you flare your chakra. While I can't measure the amount of stamina you have, of what you are saying is true then this is quite the impressive Bloodline."

" _She was pretty accurate."_ I thought. Currently, my **Gamer's Body** skill increased my **HP, CP, and SP** by 12% so in order to so accurately estimate my increase, She must have been a really incredible sensor. I guess this was how she had realized that I had some talent, but then-

"-when was the last time you sensed my chakra?"

"When you were playing hide-and-seek." She responded I paused in thought as I recalled that I had been using my chakra sonar skill more than a few times. I had no idea she had been around, but then again she was a skilled shinobi and a sensor. It didn't also help that my sonar range was decently wide so it would have been even harder to have sensed her if she was on the edge of it.

She actually looked at me curiously before she continued, "Actually what were you doing to flare your chakra so wantonly around the area? any half decent sensor in the area could have sensed the signature you were releasing and I don't think they would take to it so kindly. It's a good thing that you all were at the park and not someplace crowded or it might have been disastrous."

" _Oops…"_ I thought before I replied, "I was playing with a new technique that I created…"

"Ohh?" She asked with thick curiosity.

I decided to explain, "I really didn't feel like running around looking for those kids in the forest, so I decided to try to find them through sensing their small chakra signatures somehow…and so I created a technique to do so."

"You created a chakra sensing technique to play…hide-and-seek?"

"…yes?"

She sighed tiredly, "I'm not sure if I should classify you as immensely brilliant or enormously dull."

"…"

"So?" She continued, looking straight at me, "how well does this technique of yours work?"

"So far I can sense anything in a 180-meter radius, however, in the beginning, I could only sense 10 meters. I know that I can improve the range of the technique as long as I practice, but I'm hoping that I could evolve it into something better…and more subtle."

"Yes, you do that." She said, "While this technique isn't really subtle, it can still be useful in reconnaissance, but if you can somehow improve upon it and make it less crude, then it will be like you became an actual natural born sensor. Very useful in the field."

I nodded my head before she asked, "Is there anything else?"

I paused for a moment before I explained, "I feel like I still have room to grow and that my ability might improve with some training, but I can't be sure."

Now she looked even more interested, "If you can increase your chakra by so much just by your bloodline awakening, but you can _still_ grow." She muttered a little before concluding, "...no harm in trying. Worse that happens is that this is the limit…" she looked towards me with a smile, "You really make things more interesting don't you Yoru?"

I nodded. "I try to exceed expectations Teacher."

She nodding in satisfaction before asking me, "Do you want me to get your a proper face mask?"

I nodded in agreement before I responded, "If it is not so much of a bother to you, It'll make things a little easier for me."

"Then I'll see that I get something like that for you." She said with a nod. "Anything else I should be concerned about?"

I thought for a moment before shaking my head in the negative. She nodded at my response then continued, "Now then…" she started, pulling a piece of blank white paper, "I assume you know what this is right? I would hope all those times I brought you books from the library amounted to something."

I furrowed my brows at that as I could vaguely recall that ever happening…I internally shook myself from those thoughts and nodded my head. "Yes Chakra paper to test my affinity(s). I just channel a little bit of chakra inside and then the paper will react in 1 or more of 5 ways depending on my natural affinity.

Fire: the paper will ignite and turn to ash.

Wind: the paper will split in two.

Lightning: the paper will wrinkle.

Earth: the paper will turn to dirt and crumble away.

Water: the paper will become wet/damp.

I'm pretty sure that's how it goes."

She nodded, "I'm glad you remember, this saves me the effort of explaining this to you. Since you already know how to use it, let's see what you got."

With a nod, I took the chakra paper into my hand and channeled a small amount of chakra into the paper.

It became damp and split in two: One half turned to dirt and crumbled away and the other half ignited and wrinkled at the same time. It was important to note that this entire thing happened almost instantaneously with seemingly no gap between each process the chakra paper went through.

 **Natural Water Affinity (Passive) Lvl 1 [2.50%]**

 **Your Natural Water Affinity allows you to more naturally manipulate and control Water style ninjutsu.**

 **Passively increases Water effects by 0.25%.**

 **Reduces the cost of Water Style Ninjutsu by 0.50%.**

 **Increases experience gain when learning and using Water techniques by 50%**

 **Natural Wind Affinity (Passive) Lvl 1 [2.50%]**

 **Your Natural Wind Affinity allows you to more naturally manipulate and control wind style ninjutsu.**

 **Passively increases Wind Jutsu effects 0.25%.**

 **Reduces cost of Wind Style Ninjutsu by 0.5%.**

 **Increases experience gain when learning and using Wind techniques by 50%**

 **Natural Lightning Affinity (Passive) Lvl 1 [2.50%]**

 **Your Natural Lightning Affinity allows you to more naturally manipulate and control Lightning style ninjutsu.**

 **Passively increases Lightning Jutsu effects 0.25%.**

 **Reduces cost of Lightning Style Ninjutsu by 0.50%.**

 **Increases experience gain when learning and using Lightning techniques by 50%**

 **Natural Fire Affinity (Passive) Lvl 1 [2.50%]**

 **Your Natural Fire Affinity allows you to more naturally manipulate and control Fire style ninjutsu.**

 **Passively increases Fire effects 0.25%.**

 **Reduces cost of Fire Style Ninjutsu by 0.50%.**

 **Increases experience gain when learning and using Fire techniques by 50%**

 **Natural Earth Affinity (Passive) Lvl 1 [2.50%]**

 **Your Natural Earth Affinity allows you to more naturally manipulate and control Earth style ninjutsu.**

 **Passively increases Earth effects by 0.25%.**

 **Reduces cost of Earth Style Ninjutsu by 0.50%.**

 **Increases experience gain when learning and using Fire techniques by 50%**

"..."

"..."

"...Help yourself to the fridge. I'll be out for a while to gather materials for your training." Without even waiting to see my reply, my teacher disappeared in a swirl of leaves and left me in her house. I didn't know wether or not I should have felt bad for her, so I opted for indifference. She was a well-trained shinobi; she would get over it.

I shrugged then plopped down on the couch and thought about what I could do. Hmm well, I could finally do physical exercise without worrying about getting caught, but I was going to be trained anyway. The only reason I hadn't done so when I was in the orphanage was that I had no idea what kind of individual I was in the 4 years blank period in my memory, so if I suddenly started doing something I normally wouldn't have, I might have been suspect. I might have been worrying too much, but since Kotoe had apparently been watching over me for a while, I probably did the right thing in just acting mostly indifferent.

It was only now that I noticed I was quite hungry, so I went to the fridge to check up what kind of food she had. Hmm eggs, Greek yogurt, a bunch of fruits and vegetables, some milk, and finally cheese. Yeah, that looked about right. A seasoned shinobi should have proper nutrition to aid in their training and growth. Well, she did say to help myself, so I made a smoothie with the milk, fruits, Greek yogurt, and ice that I found in the freezer. Then I made an omelet with eggs tomatoes, spinach, and Mozzarella cheese...

Ping!

 **Congratulations, The skill 'Cooking' has been created!**

 **Cooking (Passive) Lvl 10 [34.5%]**

 **The ability on how to cook meals and how good it turns out. Current level allows you to make somewhat complex meals such as lasagna, baked pasta, complex soups, etc. Hint: Some meals can only be made when using a recipe or having watched someone teach you how to cook it.**

 **Increases cooking speed by 10% (instant meals aren't affected).**

 **Increases the success of creating a new dish by 10%**

 **Increases how well the meal taste by 10% (instant meals aren't affected)**

" _Neat."_

It's important to note that since I was so damn short, I had to use a stool to properly use the appliances on the kitchen. I couldn't wait till I grew up, but I hoped I didn't become too tall or anything, maybe around 6 feet or 1.9ish meters tall would be alright.

With those passing thoughts, I made my way to the kitchen counter and enjoyed my simple meal of eggs and a smoothie while I waited for my teacher to come back from whatever it was she was doing.

Suddenly-

"I'm back."

I had to force down my heart from lurching out my throat and I coughed as some of my food got stuck in my esophagus. After gulping my smoothie to get the food down, I looked at Kotoe who had just appeared behind me.

"Can you not do that?" I asked plainly.

"Always expect the unexpected." She replied before unceremoniously dumping a stack of books, a stack of tags that had fuuinjutsu seals on it, Kunai, and Shuriken. "These are going to be your training materials for some time before we go to more advanced material."

I gulped down a piece of the omelet I had put in my mouth before looking at the title of the books she brought, " _Chakra Theory_ , _Chakra flow in Hand Seals, Different Aspects of Chakra, Human Anatomy and Physiology."_ I then took up one of the tags and looked at Kotoe, "And these are for…?"

"Restriction Tags." She stated before explaining, "They help restrict your body's natural movements by a maximum of 10 times, however, they can only last a day at most and are stupidly expensive. However, I want to test how drastically your body will improve with such restrictions placed on them. I also don't want to risk stunting your growth by letting you play with weights, so this is a better alternative."

She then pointed at the books, "You are a smart kid, so I expect you to quickly grasp the more intricate details on chakra such as its different aspects and how it interacts with us through the use of Hand-seals."

I nodded then asked, "So what do you want for me to work on now?"

The kunoichi picked up a tag and slapped it on the back of my neck and I could suddenly feel my body become more...well restricted. "The paper tags eventually 'burn out' so to speak when a lot of chakra flows through it over time. This is more so due to the nature of the Restriction seal than the paper itself, but I digress. For now, I want you to read all those books on chakra theory while being restricted by 3x. It'll be thrice as hard to move around so you should be able to get a decent amount of exercise in. Tomorrow we will start with our real training."

With that, she took the omelet that I had yet to finish and had the audacity to eat it in my face. "Not bad Yoru. You might actually make a woman happy one day." Then she just up and tossed the plate in the sink and left me alone in the living room table with a stack of books in my hands.

" _This will take some time."_

* * *

 **Day 3**

Yesterday had been day 2 of my training in which I still had a stack of books to read. You know Kotoe seemed to have a lot of faith in my ability to learn and process this information. Either that or she only expected me to understand enough about chakra that she wouldn't have to teach me about it. Honestly, there was a lot of intricacies about chakra that I hadn't known about before and would take too long to even fully explain. Pretty much Chakra is a combination of spiritual and physical energies that can be increased through training and meditation though everyone had a limit to how much their chakra could grow and I wondered if that applied to me?...though that got me wondering why my **Meditation** skill didn't increase my maximum **CP**?

 **Analyzing Error…**

 **Error Located…**

 **Patching Error…**

 **Error Patched…**

 **For locating an error in a skill description, You have been rewarded +5 Stat Points.**

 **Meditation (Active) Lvl 15 [48.67%].**

 **Meditation** is a skill created through continuous inner focus. Meditation helps to sharpen focus and order thoughts, and it increases clarity of mind and awareness of the body.

 **Passively increase INT by 30%.**

 **Passively increase WIS by 30%.**

 **Passively increase ENGY by 30%**

 **HP and CP regeneration increase by 150% when active.**

 **(NOTE: Cannot be activated during combat. At higher levels, you are able to better sit still and the rate of HP and CP regeneration increases.)**

" _Neat."_ Well, that solved that mystery. I certainly didn't feel like my **CP** had increased so this may have more just have been a visual error than an actual anatomical one. Due to the restriction seals, I had also managed to gain **+3 STR, +3 VIT, and +3 DEX** but since that had all happened in the span on only a couple days, well I still had a lot of room to grow.

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Race: Human?**

 **Level: Lvl 1 Next Level: 100/200**

 **HP: 672/672 Regen: (7.5 per min)**

 **CP: 1100/1100 Regen: (7.15 per min)**

 **CC: 30%**

 **STR: 10**

 **VIT: 11**

 **DEX: 11**

 **INT: 15**

 **WIS: 14**

 **ENGY: 15**

 **Points: 12**

 **Ryo: 1000**

Now my teacher and I were at an empty training ground that with targets all set up and in front of me were kunai and shuriken laid about. The kicker was that I had a restriction tag placed upon my body.

"Now, you have 10 Kunai and shuriken and 10 targets set up. I want you to try and hit as many of those targets as you can with the restriction seal on. I don't expect you to get any right away, so take your time. Afterward, when you can finally hit at least 3, we will go do some basic physical conditioning to get your body to the right fitness level. If you are still all-awake by the end of the day, you may go back home and we will call it a day."

I definitely know you were about to say 'alive'...Regardless I nodded in affirmative and got to work with my sadistic teacher.

Ping!

 _ **Daily Quest Alert!**_

 _ **Training Arc**_

 _ **Your beautiful but sadistic teacher is setting you up for the worst torment of your foreseeable life, however, if your live up to and surpass her expectations, you will benefit greatly. Complete all the following requirements for as many days as Kotoe places you on this regime.**_

 _ **Objective 1: Hit at least 5 targets with your kunai.**_

 _ **Objective 2: Hit at least 5 targets with your Shuriken.**_

 _ **Objective 3: Complete 2 hours Worth of physical Conditioning.**_

 _ **Objective 1 Completion: +100 EXP, +1 Reputation with Kotoe**_

 _ **Objective 2 Completion: +100 EXP, +1 Reputation with Kotoe**_

 _ **Objective 3 Completion: +200 EXP, +2 Reputation with Kotoe**_

 _ **Failure: Kotoe is secretly giving you 10 days to live up to her expectations.**_

 _ **-1 Reputation with Kotoe if you fail to complete objective 1 or 2 in 10 days and every day after.**_

 _ **-2 Rep with Kotoe if you fail to complete objective 3 in 10 days and every day after**_

 **Do You Accept?**

 **Y/N**

Only 10 days? I instantly clicked yes and focused my gaze on the targets before me. I believed that with my body and skills, I would be able to better handle all the things that she would throw my way. With a determined gaze, I strained to pick up a kunai before throwing it as Kotoe had taught me. Needless to say, it veered a little ( _way_ ) off course since it was my first time.

" _This might take a while…"_

* * *

 **Day 30**

The dull thumping sound of metal hitting against wood sounded out as all ten kunai I threw landed dead center in the targets. Without pause, I took out 10 shurikens from my ninja tool pouch, 5 in each hand, and tossed them towards the 10 different targets. I was rewarded with a 'thud' signaling that they had hit and I looked to see that they had landed dead center as well.

 **Congratulations, 'Kunai & Shuriken Mastery' has leveled up by 1!**

 **Kunai & Shuriken Mastery (Passive) Lvl 45 [0.70%]**

 **Kunai & Shuriken Mastery increases with the level of skill you have with Kunai and shuriken. **

**Increases damage when using Kunai & Shuriken by 45%**

 **Increases accuracy when using Kunai & Shuriken by 45% in battle**

 **Increases accuracy when using Kunai & Shuriken by 90% out of battle**

A clapping sound broke me out of my reverie as I noticed my teacher come out from her hiding spot in the trees. She was looking at me with pride, but she sighed as she spoke, "To think it only took you 5 days to hit at least 5 of the targets when you had your movements restricted to ⅓. Now you can easily hit all targets dead center even after you have your movements restricted to 1/4. And to top it all off, you had managed to survive 2 hours of physical exercise even with the restrictions on your movements on." She shook her head as she looked at me exasperated, "What am I going to do with such a genius like you?" She asked.

I merely shook my head, "I wouldn't say I'm a genius but that I'm hardworking. Terms like 'Genius' rub me the wrong way. It makes me feel like I simply gained all my abilities and never actually earned them." I stated lightly, conveniently ignoring that I pretty much had just gained a lot of my abilities.

She rubbed my head as she spoke, "Alright then hard worker, today will be the last day I have you on this regimen as we will be finally starting some shinobi training such as combat, stealth, survival training, interrogation, etc. I do expect you to continue this kind of training, however. We wouldn't want to get rusty now would we?"

"Of course not Teacher"

She nodded with a smile, "Then get to your physical conditioning exercise."

With a nod, I leaped up to the trees and traveled to a more secluded but larger training ground. It was covered in short grass and was the perfect place to do some laps. Kotoe had me doing the basics of the basics so that it wouldn't have too much of a detrimental effect on me, though the amount she had me do made me wonder…

It was a basic physical work out where I did as many pushups as I could until my arms died, then I would do as many sit-ups as I could until my abs cramped, then as many squats as I could until my legs gave out, then I had to run for as long as possible. The first few days were definitely challenging, but my highly adaptable **Gamer's Body** allowed me to survive this torture session quite easily.

But regardless of everything, I deeply appreciated my Teacher. She acted like a hardass all the time during training, but she was kind afterward.

On a side-note, I had this running theory that Chakra was the reason why shinobi could train so hard at such a young age without many detrimental effects. I mean how else could Kakashi become a chunin level shinobi at the age of 6?

With those and many other random thoughts running through my head, I completed my 2-hour physical exercise for today, but as I looked at a skill of mine, I decided to continue going for a little longer till it leveled up.

 **Congratulations, 'Physical Conditioning'** **has leveled up by 1!**

 **Physical Conditioning (Passive) Lvl 10 [1.08%]**

 **Physical Conditioning is a skill that measures the strength, health, and overall fitness of the user's body. It is a passive skill in which the user trains their body to enhance both bodily function and physical capabilities.**

 **Passively increase STR by 20%.**

 **Passively increase VIT by 20%.**

 **Passively increase DEX by 20%**

 **Passively increase ENGY by 20%**

I slightly smiled under my mask at the bonuses I received. I was honestly surprised that I had even gotten a skill like this, but it actually made sense. This skill was like the physical equivalent of the **Meditation** skill where instead of improving my mind ( **INT and WIS** ), it drastically improved my body and it seemed to be a perfect match for my **Gamer's Body.** The best part was that since both the training of the mind and body was necessary for increasing chakra, this skill upped my **ENGY** stat as well. The only downside was that even though I had gone through a month of torturous training, this skill was only level 10. I could see that this skill would be so troublesome to level up later on.

Regardless, I was glad about my results and the progress I had made in this one month. The stronger I grew, the more secure I would be in the future.

I noticed my teacher appear after I had finished my workouts and watched as she scanned me up and down for a moment. "Hey Yoru, flare your chakra for me."

I realized what she wanted to check and so I flared it. I noticed her eyes twitch before she smacked her lips, "I don't even know how I can classify your Kekkei Genkai. Normally an individual would have to train for years to have as much as an increase in chakra as you've had, yet in merely 30 days, you have more than doubled the amount of chakra you had when you had before you awoke your bloodline. Let's not even begin on how drastically your stamina has increased by. I feel like I can increase the restrictions on you without having to worry about tiring you out. It's almost as if your body is...adapting to everything I throw at it."

She gazed at me carefully for a moment before muttering, "and unlike an Uzumaki, you weren't born with such large amounts of Stamina or chakra, instead your body seems to just grow at a ludicrous rate. If it was anyone who didn't know better, they would assume you were just a genius, but your growth rate is clearly unnatural."

"What do you think my bloodline is Sensei?" I asked while wiping the small amounts of perspiration from my body.

The woman rubbed her chin in thought, "Well it seems like your body is able to quickly adapt to any strain placed on it. The amount that your chakra and stamina have increased by shows that your body has quickly adapted and has compensated for your previous lack of them. I'm going to have to test how much your strength and agility has increased by as well to see if they improve as drastically as the rest of your body's capabilities."

She rubbed her forehead as she muttered, "...and I'll have to let Lord Danzo know as well." She sighed as she looked at me, "You never cease to make things more interesting and exhausting, you know."

"I didn't ask to be kidnapped and trained into a secret village organization."

She replied in bemusement, "But you are the one who agreed to all this."

"..."

* * *

It was still Day 30 and I had finished my workouts for the day. Usually, after my training, Kotoe would pick me up and make me take a shower before making us something to eat and we would talk about how to progress in my training and what it meant to be a shinobi of the leaf. I didn't mind place enough, but I still knew that no village was perfect and despite what anyone said, while Hidden Leaf was the strongest hidden village, it was not without flaws.

All that aside, Kotoe apparently wanted a 'bonding' session between us as master and student. Kind of surprising really considering she took such joy in watching me squirm while I practiced, but I knew she always had a soft spot. Now here I was in the bathtub.

Naked.

With Kotoe.

Obviously, nothing was actually happening and she was just washing my back. I was accepting it all with a bland look on my face both because of **Gamer's Mind** and a lack of teenage hormones.

"I'm glad you agreed to this. I think that a proper Student/Teacher relationship should be that in which there is no awkwardness between them. I'm of the belief that it will improve training productivity if both Teacher and Student have fewer barriers between them." Kotoe said, scrubbing my back with a soapy sponge.

"That makes sense...so what do you propose?"

The kunoichi smiled before rinsing the soap off my back and turning me around to wash my front. "Tell me something about yourself. It doesn't have to be specific or anything, but something that I might not have been aware of before. I feel like while we have lived together for around a month, we haven't really gotten to know each other well."

I thought for a moment, "...I don't think there is much about myself that is worth mentioning. I mean I guess the only thing I care about right now is getting stronger."

"Why?" She asked, rubbing my hair with soap. I closed my eyes at her ministrations.

"In order to survive," I said simply while Kotoe poured water over my head to wash out the hair.

"And after you have enough power to survive?" She asked, rubbing my chest with soap.

"Who knows? Probably live out the rest of my days as a hermit or something." I replied after she dumped some water on my chest.

"Pfft." The kunoichi laughed before scrubbing my legs.

After washing me off once more, she gave me the soap and sponge so I lathered the sponge with the soap and began scrubbing her back. I noticed traces of old wounds and scars there and I couldn't help but run my index finger across them. "Why did you become a shinobi? Was it something you chose or…?"

She stayed silent for a moment before replying, "It was mainly by choice, but I guess you could say I didn't have much of one. When I was around your age, there were already signs of destabilization from the aftermath of the 1st shinobi war. Everyone knew that the armistice between the Five great countries would only last so long before the situation completely collapsed. It was around that time that the village started actively try and gather potential for the coming storm."

I listened attentively to her tale while pouring a bucket of warm water down her back. It only took a moment before she continued, "I was an orphan then just like you were now. I couldn't remember my parents at all nor had they left anything that would allow me to find their identities, but it didn't matter. Orphans more often than not became shinobi if only to find an easy way out of their miserable lives. It was very bad during my time as the economic situation of the hidden villages was crumbling yet more and more money was being put into training more soldiers as opposed to the improvement of the village as a whole. Naturally, the orphanage received setbacks and as a result, most trained to become shinobi so that they could make a name and living for themselves."

I could sense a sort of humorless mirth in her tone as she continued, "Of course many of them didn't and simply died half-way. Those who were able to make something out of themselves usually died the quickest if they weren't strong enough. It was around the time when I was 12 that the war began in full bloom and I had already trained as a shinobi for around 7 years by that time. I was lucky to barely survive to that age, to be honest, and if it hadn't been for my teammates at the time supporting me, I would have died, but-"

She paused for a second before looking then rubbing an old but visible wound on her stomach, "Fast forward six years and around a year ago, they died trying to help me escape an enemy ambush. This was something I obtained at that time ago due to my negligence and as a result, I got a mark to remember it by."

I looked at it carefully and poked it with my finger. "Kunai…".

"Pierced my stomach cleanly." She replied, smiling. "I would have eventually bled out, but luckily the battle had taken place near the village borders and I had been saved by some patrolling ninja. Long story short, My injuries put me out of commission for a while, but my abilities as a sensor were still useful. I was contacted by Danzo and came into his service to help him protect the Leaf from the inside which was why I was technically 'Inactive' but I still went to the occasional recon. I worked at your Orphanage for most of the time as a result of my past and to tried to help the children there as best as I could. If I found someone with potential-"

"-You would 'politely' drag them to your secret hideout and ask if they wanted to do more for their village. If they declined, well that meeting had never actually happened and they would be left alone." I said

"I at the very least wanted to give them the ability to choose something for themselves as opposed to completely being deprived of choice like how I had been during the war." Kotoe then sighed as she resumed, "But unfortunately, that option may soon be unable to them."

"...Another war." I stated instead of asked to which she nodded. I poured soap into my hands and ran it through her hair. I wasn't sure if it was good for her hair or not but I highly doubted she cared for that sort of thing. "…You never really had the choice of becoming a ninja because it was either that or living a worse life in the streets due to decaying economic situations. Due to circumstances, you eventually were able to work with Danzo and try to help out children as much as you can. In the end you want to give them the option to choose their futures, but-" I said rinsing out her hair, "-you know that in the end that choice may again be taken away from them, however-" I tilted my head, "you are definitely happy about the choice I made."

I suddenly found myself in between two large soft things, but I was unable to enjoy the sensation as I was suffocating. I flailed my arms in a futile attempt to get free, but all I could hear was Kotoe's amused voice, "Sometimes being too smart isn't a good thing you cheeky brat." and which that she let me go.

I took in the much-needed air and looked at the source of my anguish.

"...Those things are dangerous." I stated blandly.

The owner of those things smiled and started to dry me off before stating, "It's about time we head off to bed. We are going to be doing something new tomorrow and you'll need to be rested up."

I nodded my head as she finished and then I dried her off as well. Afterward, she went to bed, not bothering to put on clothes, so I followed suit, though I did put on my face mask.

I've grown fond of the thing.

With that, I plopped on the bed in my birthday suit and asked Kotoe something that had been bothering me for some time. "...Sensei, how do you feel a ninja should handle their emotions?" I may have been a bit foggy on a lot about Danzo, but I did have the memory of his ROOT shinobi being mindless drones, yet Kotoe was nothing like that and in fact, while she wasn't the most expressive individual, she also wasn't emotionless and could express her emotions normally. I noticed how she looked at me as if wondering what brought about this question and I replied, "I know you've been with me long enough to notice that I have a very dulled emotional capacity, so I was just wondering…"

 **Lie successful!**

 **Congratulations, 'Lying' has leveled up by 1!**

She regarded me for a little before replying, "To be honest, you'll get a variety of answers depending on the individual. Lord Danzo, however, is of the belief that a shinobi should have impeccable control of their emotions, to the point where they could almost wear them as a mask. He believes that any decent shinobi should have enough control to feel whatever emotions they are projecting to the point where they can almost deceive themselves. That is how he trained his shinobi and that is what I believe in as well."

Seeing me look contemplatively, she simply stated, "Don't worry about something like that for now. We will have time to work on expressing yourself more, so worry about tomorrow instead." And with that, she went to sleep.

" _This place...is really different."_

* * *

 **(This author's note in between the two lines was created while I was on chapter 25)** **Author's Note: I don't think I understand what so many people dislike about my story up to chapter 3 (or maybe it's just something in chapter 3?). Like, yeah I don't think it's the greatest story up till that point nor do I believe my beginning chapters were all that, but I don't think it should be getting so much…hatred. I dunno, almost all the negative reviews I've seen for my story (and I mean all negative with no constructive criticism) have been about how I've glorified my MC to high heaven and, as one review so kindly put it, "Kissing my own ass". I would really like to know what is wrong with the first three chapters of my story to elicit that kind of response since those reviews have all been written at chapter 3. For all of you who have made it to this chapter, is there anything so terribly wrong with my writing that someone would feel the need to simply drop it after three chapters? Or am I just overreacting? If it really is that bad, tell me what the issue with it is. I don't think I'll rewrite any of the beginning chapters, but the input would be useful for my subsequent chapters.**

* * *

 **Pretty much he gets kidnapped and trained so yeah. Also, do note that Yoru is only 4 so no weird shit is happening between them at all. It was literally a bonding thing and Kotoe is an experienced shinobi who has been out in the field many times. Showing a little skin for her isn't anything, especially to a child who is 4. I just need to explain before I get some weird ass pedo PM's.**


	4. Chapter 4

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **Day 90**

Ping!

 _ **Daily Quest Alert!**_

 _ **Training Arc II**_

 _ **Your beautiful but sadistic teacher is training you in combat and wants to see you improve in your skills. Show her how fast you can improve and try to land something on her.**_

 _ **Objective 1:**_ _ **Manage to land at least one hit on Kotoe**_

 _ **Objective 2: Make Kotoe Use Substitution at least once**_

 _ **Objective 1 reward: 500 EXP, +1 Stat point**_

 _ **Objective 2 reward: 1000 EXP**_

 _ **Failure: You may die on the field.**_

 **Do You Accept?**

 **Y/N**

I grimaced under my mask before turning to face my adversary. Kotoe was dressed in some of her Anbu clothing; She had the sleeveless black shirt, gloves, dark pants, and shinobi sandals down, but she lacked the typical grey flak jacket, metal arm guards and ninja pouches that an Anbu would typically wear on the field. Ever since Day 31, Kotoe had begun training me on hand-to-hand combat. She didn't teach me a style or anything, but just how to fight and handle herself and every day since then, I had received this quest.

I believe it goes without saying that I fumbled a lot and did not manage to hit her even after 40 days. More irritating was the fact that I knew she was significantly holding back to try and match my speed and strength, but that did nothing to change the vast difference in skill and experience. It wasn't until recently that I had managed to actually land a hit on her.

It did pretty much no damage.

And I got beat soon after.

But I had completed part one of the quest so I supposed it was alright, more so since she hadn't been upset about my lack of skill. I hadn't had any before anyway, so she simply encouraged me to do better.

"You're distracted again." A voice said behind me causing me to instantly take a leap forward to distance myself and turned to see Kotoe looking at me unamused.

 _"She's fast..."_

"Try not to let your thoughts wander." she stated before getting into a loose stance, "Come."

I shook my head from any distractions and carefully looked at her poise. It _looked_ like she had openings...and she did, but she was purposefully opening up her guard for me. I knew that it would be hard to exploit that opening, but I had to try.

I focused my gaze.

The rustling of the leaves signaled our fight.

I quickly threw a kunai from my pouch and watched as she merely tilted her head to dodge the projectile. It impacted the tree behind her so I rushed up to her another kunai in hand. She watched as I got closer and it wasn't until I had jumped up to her face level and swung the weapon that she decided to slightly move.

She leaned back at the blow causing my attack to hit air and leaving my still airborne body wide open. She instantly capitalized with a sharp upper kick aimed at my abdomen, but with great flexibility, I tucked my knees into my chest and the kick instead impacted the soles of my feet. I used the upward momentum of the attack to propel myself upwards allowing me to see her impassive gaze below. I strapped the kunai to my side and got out 10 Shuriken from my pouch and crossed my arms against my chest, 5 throwing stars in each hand. In a fluid motion, I released them from my possession and watched as they flew towards the ground.

They were thrown in a way that Kotoe would have little room to maneuver or dodge. Without so much as a pause, she jumped and gracefully grabbed 2 of the throwing stars in midair then quickly threw them. They impacted the other projectiles causing them to ricochet away from her and some even flew back towards me. I stood on a tree, parallel to the ground, and used the kunai strapped to my waist to deflect the 3 stars that had come my way.

Suddenly, my **Danger Sense** screamed at me to dodge to which I quickly reacted and jumped off the tree just in time for an attack shatter the trunk of the plant.

Kotoe landed on the ground after kicking the tree in half and looked at me appreciatively, "At least your instincts are satisfactory." No more words were said as she rushed towards me and used her longer reach to twist her body and throw a sharp right kick aimed at my ribs. I quickly ducked and used the opening of her missed attack to thrust the kunai in my hands upward towards her outstretched attacking leg.

In an impossibly smooth motion her feet, which had been pointed parallel to the ground, turned upwards at a 90-degree angle and became perpendicular to the ground. With this position the dropped her heel downwards aimed at my left shoulder while my right knife holding hand was poised to strike.

I could hit her.

But I would lose my shoulder in the process.

I quickly abandoned my attack by jumping forward hearing the crack of the earth behind me as Kotoe's heel impacted the ground. I rolled and stood up on one knee while glancing at my teacher. I needed to find a way to distract her for just a single second, so I thought for a moment before deciding a course of action.

This entire time.

I had been restricted.

It was to obviously aid in my strength growth while training, however, I could use this to my advantage. All the tricks I had used in the past would most likely not work on her the same way they had before. With that, I looked behind my teacher, towards the tree where the first kunai I had thrown was lodged.

Unknown to my teacher (hopefully) I had attached an extrememly thin, piece of ninja wire to my first kunai. With all the movements I had made around her, the wire was also now on the ground around her, so I lightly twitched my fingers and pulled.

 _Hard_

Immediately, the wire on the ground made itself known and began to quickly wrap itself around Kotoe. My teacher looked marginally surprised, so I used this brief moment of distraction to run towards her as quickly as I could. With a kunai in my other hand, I swung it as fast as I could towards my immobile teacher, however, with her superior strength, Kotoe grunted before tearing the wire apart. She then quickly reacted to my attack by reaching her hand outwards and grabbing my wrist locking me in position. I quickly attacked and swung my right leg upwards towards her chin to which she opted to try to grab with her other hand.

At this moment, I focused on the restriction seal and released part of the restrictions on my movements and my kick suddenly accelerated catching her off guard. She was able to tilt her head to the side fast enough for my kick to miss, but not enough for a graze to appear on her cheek. I took the moment when she was touching her barely noticeable injury to slip out of her grip and backflip away.

Ping!

 **Congratulations! 'Perfect Movement' has leveled up by 1!**

 **Congratulations! 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' has leveled up by 1!**

 **Perfect Movement Lvl 25 [4.20%]**

 **Perfect Movement is a skill given to those who have mastery of their own bodies granting the user amazing agility and accuracy. This skill allows the user to decrease the amount of wasted movement they make as the skill level increases.**

 **50% Increase to Movement Speed.**

 **25% Increase to Attack Speed.**

 **25% Increase to Evasion.**

 **25% Decrease in wasted movement**

 **Hand-to-Hand Combat Mastery Lvl 15 [1.40%]**

 **Hand-to-Hand combat encompasses all forms of such combat. Increased mastery of any type of hand to hand combat will increase the level of this skill and the effectiveness of your hand to hand fighting techniques.**

 **15% Increase to Physical Damage**

 **15% Increase to Attack Speed**

 **15% Increase in Reaction Time**

"...You suddenly got faster." She stated while feeling the scratch on her cheek, "You released your restrictions to catch me off guard with a sudden burst of speed. Not bad Yoru, but don't try something like that out in the field." She placed her hands to her sides before continuing, "In the field, you will never have the chance to hold back which means that you won't have restrictions to suddenly remove to get the drop on your enemy. Always go for the kill on an assignment unless stated otherwise in the mission parameters. The only reason we are using restrictions to fight is so that we can get your stronger. Understood?"

I nodded at her statement. I had no plans of being stupid enough to hold back during a mission, but that also meant I wouldn't be able to surprise my enemies with a sudden increase in strength and speed. Too bad my life came first over anything and if I died because I held back, well my regrets would go with me to the grave.

Seeing me understand her lesson, she placed a hand on my shoulder. "Then we will call it a day."

 _ **Daily Quest Complete!**_

 _ **Training Arc II**_

 _ **Objective 1 reward: 500 EXP, +1 Stat point**_

 _ **Objective 2 reward: Failed.**_

With that, we left in a Body Flicker.

* * *

It was still Day 90 of my tort- training and we had finished taking a shower together.

Afterwards, I was all dried up and clothed, but it was pretty late at night. I sat on the dining room table wondering what Kotoe was going to cook up for tonight. Apparently, she had liked my omelet that day even though I hadn't done anything particularly special when making it. As a result, however, we alternated the days we cooked for each other which was fine by me since it helped me level my cooking skill.

I was broken out of my musings when I noticed Kotoe come out of our room dressed quite nicely. It looked like she was going out someplace. "...You look good. Who's the lucky guy?"

I was promptly flicked in the head.

Hard.

"...Ow." I said, rubbing my forehead

She retracted her finger then grabbed my wrist while stating with a slight smile, "Part of being a ninja is knowing how to blend in with your surroundings, especially in a foreign environment. I've never bothered to get you civilian clothing, but I think it is time for a change of pace."

Without waiting for my reply, she used shunshin and appeared in front of a clothing store. I was pretty used to the gut-wrenching sensation of being carried by that technique by now, so I was impassive if anything. "...I don't think shinobi use shunshin when they are trying to blend in."

For that, I got another flick to my head.

"Not with that attitude they don't. Now come on let's get you something to wear."

" _...No, I'm pretty sure attitude has nothing to do with it."_ But I wisely decided to keep myself quiet. Afterward, we looked around the store and decided that I would look good in a simple red T-shirt, and some black sweatpants to contrast my white hair. At least the shirt was my favorite color. To be honest I knew about as much about fashion as the unfortunate size of my 4-year-old mini-me.

I.E. Very little.

That being said Kotoe seemed to know what she was doing so I let her play dress up with me all the while I was thinking about what we were going to eat. You know now that I think about it, I'm not actually hung-

"Maybe we should get your ears pierced." She said while rubbing her chin in thought

I raised a brow at the woman who said that to me and replied emotionlessly "...no."

She shrugged, "Alright then. But you look good in these clothes. I'll pick out a few more of these and then we'll go out to eat." I nodded at her and allowed her to do her things. I wonder what place she had in mind…

With those kinds of thoughts running through my head, Kotoe came back with a bag in her hand and in a 'puff' it disappeared. I looked at the paper tag in her hand and noticed that it had a seal on it. "A storage seal huh?"

She nodded while putting the seal in her cleavage, "it's very convenient for shinobi to have and it is one of the most important equipment a shinobi should acquire. It makes equipment storage for long missions a lot more bearable."

I nodded at her words then asked, "So where are we going for food?"

The woman lightly smiled, "I hear that there was a new ramen store opening up today. I wanted to try something new."

I was curious so I nodded. Kotoe decided to walk me there instead of using shunshin and so I enjoyed the Konoha night scenery while walking by. I could really appreciate the beauty of this place at a time like this; when I wasn't training eating or sleeping. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and we eventually came upon a small shop that read 'Ramen Ichiraku'.

I was able to hide the surprise on my face as I was dragged in by my glorified babysitter, "Mmm. It has that new shop smell."

"Is that even a thi-"

"MINATO! LOOK IT'S THE NEW RAMEN STORE! WE HAVE TO TRY IT!"

"Yes yes, Kushina, but is there a need to yell I'm right-"

"Hah?! Are you telling me not to get excited about _Ramen_?!"

"' _sigh'_ let's just go inside."

My eyes widened in surprise at the sounds and names the voices spoke and I watched as the flap to the store was lifted up and two people came into view. One of them was a familiar face of 3 months ago with the same spiky blond hair and blue eyes.

The other individual was a woman who had a slender, but feminine build, fair skin, violet eyes, and red hair. It reached her ankles with shoulder-length strands that framed both sides of her face and a black clip that parted her hair to the left.

I noted that my teacher had frozen up for a moment as if she had felt something dangerous while looking at the red-haired woman. I looked at her in concern before I remembered, this red-haired woman not only had monstrous chakra from her bloodline, but she carried something which made her even more monstrous. To someone like my teacher who was an adept sensor, it must have been like a shock.

" _Kushina…"_ I thought.

Well, what were the odds?

I tugged at my teacher's sleeve to bring her out of her temporary daze, however true to her skills as a ninja, she had already composed herself. She looked at me with a small smile donning her lips, "I'm alright Yoru, thanks for worrying."

I looked at her for a second longer, making sure she was really ok, before nodding.

"Well at least it is emp-" The blond haired man stopped speaking as he noticed the two other occupants in the room; me and Kotoe.

He looked at me with squinted eyes as if trying to remember something, before his eyes widened, "Ah! It's you!" He looked me up and down then before smiling, "And you look to be in good health as well. Not bad kid."

"Thank you for your praise Lord Namikaze." I said with a bow. Something about etiquette that Kotoe told me was necessary.

The man in question suddenly looked sheepish, "haha no need to call me that especially in this setting." He looked at me and smiled, "Mr. Namikaze or just Minato is Fine."

"...Alright, Mr. Namikaze."

"Hey Minato, who's the Kakashi rip-off?" The red-headed woman suddenly asked, most likely annoyed about how she was being ignored.

Minato, understanding that, held her hand reassuringly and stated, "He's someone I met a few months back at the place where I was going to test my Genin team. He's a very talented individual so I took note of him." The blue-eyed man then looked to Kotoe who lightly smiled in kind, "And I wasn't the only one to do so either."

Kotoe nodded her head before she replied, "Lord Danzo was impressed with his maturity and Yoru has only grown a lot more since then. His rate of improvement is astonishing and in a few years he may surpass me." She said that last part while patting my head, which I gladly accepted because it felt pretty good.

I noticed that Kushina was looking just _slightly_ annoyed either about the fact that she was ignored again or the fact that she hasn't had Ramen yet. It was hard to tell with her, but seeing that, I decided to intervene, "Mr. Namikaze, would I be correct in assuming that the woman with the beautiful red hair beside you is your wife?" I had to make sure to compliment the red hair. Not only because I knew Kushina would like it,

But because red was my favorite color.

I saw her eyes suddenly widen before she disappeared. My danger sense kicked into overdrive and I moved to dodge.

But it was too late.

"Urgk!"

I found myself in a crushing embrace with my face in between 2 soft mounds, but I could hear Kushina squeal happily, "Hey Minato..." She started, crushing me deeper into her bosom. You know now that my mind had somewhat calmed down, I realized that I wasn't actually suffo- "I want one."

I could _feel_ the pin drop silence at the utterance of that statement and my brain lost track of its ability to think as it processed those words. It took me a moment to realize what she had meant and it seemed like I wasn't the only one.

I could hear Kotoe laugh with a 'pfft' and Minato cough awkwardly with what I imagined were his cheeks furiously red. I wouldn't know because I was being crushed. "W-We can work on that dear, all I wanted was to have some dinner..." He muttered that last statement, but everyone pretended not to hear it.

The red-haired woman smiled then looked at me with a warm gaze, "Thank you Yoru and you're right, that man over there is my husband, someone I cherish."

I noticed Minato flush happily at the statement while Kotoe looked on with a slight smile. I nodded at her words, "Then he is lucky to have you." Throughout all this, however, I felt like we had forgotten something…

Kushina smiled at my statement, "Yes he is, after all-" the red-haired woman looked at Minato in irritation, "-if it wasn't for me he would still be stuck in that cave he calls his 'workshop'" she shook her head in exasperation, "Honestly sometimes I regret teaching you seals. It's like you love them more than me…"

The man in question hastily shook his hands in denial, "N-No Kushina it's not like that! I'm just getting really good at seals and I've been having some breakthr-"

"There you go again! Can't you go a day without talking about them?!"

"But if I can figure out how to reverse engineer the 2nd Hokage's technique-"

"Goodness you should just marry those things already!"

"K-Kushina…"

All the while Kotoe and I were watching impassively. "Is this what a married couple is like?" I asked.

The woman in question nodded. "Pretty much. Why? Having second thoughts about finding someone to protect?" She asked with a smirk.

"...I might be reconsidering."

"U-Umm excuse me?"

4 pairs of eyes stared at the new voice to which the owner flinched for a moment before coughing and recomposing himself. He was a man who looked to be in his late 20's with lightly tanned skin and light brown hair. "Since you all are here, would you like to order something?"

Ahh, now I remember what I had forgotten.

We were in a restaurant.

Minato looked on apologetically while Kushina had stars in her eyes. Kotoe and I looked at each other, shrugged, then sat down.

"Ahh! I'll have 5 Bowls of Miso Ramen please!" Kushina said while plopping down next to me.

Minato sighed and sat down next to his wife, "1 bowl for me."

"I'll get a pork ramen please." Kotoe asked.

"...Likewise." Was my reply. The man nodded after writing our orders, happy that he had gotten some business, before going to the back of the kitchen to prepare our meals.

After a little bit, the man came out with our food and placed the bowls in front of us. "Enjoy your meals." He stated with a smile before walking back into his work area.

Kushina dug in as soon as the food was placed down while Minato sighed and started eating much more liberally than his wife.

"AHH! Ramen never fails to satisfy me." The Uzumaki started after somehow finishing her first bowl. I looked down at my ¾ filled bowl and looked at her empty one. I touched my chin in thought at the mystery.

"So Yoru." Kushina started, swallowing strands of ramen from her second bowl, "Minato says you're pretty talented, like another Kakashi." She smirked as she continued, "You've even got the whole face mask down. Is that a thing that geniuses use nowadays?"

I idly twirled the noodles in my soup as I replied, "...I think I wear the mask better than him though." It was barely a whisper but I was sure they heard it. "I don't consider myself a 'genius' so to speak. I like to think that while I might have an advantage over others, I still work as arduously as possible in order to improve. I prefer the term 'diligent' if anything." Well, as diligent as one needed to be when they had an entire otherwordly system at their disposal.

"So you prefer to work hard huh?" She asked slurping up more noodles, "Then what do you do when you aren't training?"

I ate some ramen from my bowl, idly noting that I still had ½ left while Kushina was almost done with her second bowl, "...Eat."

I noticed that Kushina was looking at me intently, "And?"

"...Study."

Her eyes narrowed, "And?"

My bowl suddenly looked interesting. I wondered if it was made of clay? "...Sleep."

"And?"

"..."

Kushina didn't look too pleased with my reply and I wondered if the table I was on was made of clay as well. What if I was made of clay? Wait didn't the Titan Prometheus make the first human from clay? I wondered if we were all part clay…

"A shinobi should be able to easily interact with other individuals whether it be for infiltration purposes, talking to clients, or leading a team." Kushina moved her gaze towards Kotoe "I'm surprised you haven't moved to yeah him this skill."

The hazel eyes woman lightly smiled, "Actually, this night was the start of that training for him." She patted my head and continued, "I wanted him to get out and watch me interact with others and hopefully he would pick up on something." I always thought her sudden decision to bring me out for dinner was fishy.

Kushina looked thoughtful at that, "That's not a bad idea especially for a visual learner, but I believe interacting with people his age would help him build up his skills more." She rubbed her chin in thought before seemingly thinking of something, "Ahh I know!" The woman looked at me with a smile, "Why don't you come over my place whenever you aren't too busy training?"

Kotoe and I looked at each other before the former spoke, "I suppose I would work something out with his schedule, but how would this help him?" I could tell Minato was confused as well until he suddenly smiled in realization.

The Uzumaki smirked, "Minato usually brings his kids over after training. Yoru can be around and talk with them when they're there. I know that he and Kakashi are close to the same age and I feel like they would be good friends."

Kotoe thought for a moment, then nodded with a smile while looking at Minato, "If we can get a schedule on when you train your team, I could find a way to work around it, if you don't mind."

The future 4th Hokage grinned and nodded, "I don't mind at all. I think it would be a great experience. Especially for my youngest team member." With that, the mood in the dining table significantly improved and the adults talked about a bunch of things while I just sat there enjoying my noodles.

Where they made out of clay too?

Food for thought.

* * *

 **Day 180**

Ever since that day 3 months ago, my teacher had changed up my training schedule slightly. It was enough for me to go visit Minato and Kushina's place for about a couple hours and hang out with Minato's genin team. Needless to say, the expression on Obito's face was priceless, though I think Rin was fine having me around and Kakashi didn't seem to care either way.

My training was more or less still the same with exercise and body conditioning in the morning then combat training. The quest to hit my teacher had been changed to a new one after she had decided to work on my stealth and infiltration skills.

Basically, we played hide and seek.

With a twist of course.

We usually played in a more forested training ground in which there were two parts to our game. The first part was the basic hide and seek where I had to hide and my teacher had to find me.

She usually did.

The second part was where I had to steal something from under her nose while in the woods. This was significantly harder and more often than not she caught me which would mean I had to cook for the evening. I fear that my increasing cooking skill was the cause of that punishment, but I didn't complain.

Now, however, I had managed to avoid my teacher's detection long enough for it to be counted my win and I had somehow managed to steal the metal token from under her nose. Afterwards, I made it back to my 'base' thereby completing the mission.

 _ **Daily Quest Complete!**_

 _ **Training Arc III**_

 _ **Objective 1 reward: 250 EXP**_

 _ **Objective 2 reward: 500 EXP**_

Ping!

' **Stealth' has leveled up by 1!**

 **Stealth (Active: ON) lvl 55 [2.45%]**

 **Stealth is the fundamental skill that all ninjas learn to become, well better ninjas. Having good enough stealth allows you to more easily infiltrate enemy lines, assassinate priority targets, and spy. This skill is subconsciously activated when you need to go into stealth mode. It grants you increase stealth where your every movement is subconsciously inconspicuous, making it more difficult to notice your presence and find you.**

 **Stealth infiltration, avoidance, and concealment ability are at 55%.**

 **For stronger opponents, -2% for each level they surpass you by**

With a sigh of relief, I sat down on the ground and no sooner did I see my teacher walking out of the foliage with a smile on her face. "You did good Yoru. You managed to hide from me even after I had discovered you. You then steadily made your way back here." She then sighed, "..as per rules I'll make dinner, but your cooking will always be the best." She finished with a grin.

I smiled despite myself, "You know that too much of a good thing isn't good right?" To which Kotoe shrugged then smirked before transferring us back home with a shunshin.

* * *

 **Day 364**

" _I can't believe it's almost been a year…"_ I thought while walking my way out of the forest grounds. My training had been more or less progressing at the same schedule with me occasionally going over to the Namikaze-Uzumaki compound. Had I ever mentioned how beautiful that place?

Nevertheless, somewhere along the line, my teacher had decided that it would be a great idea for me to have some survival training. Needless to say, I was not expecting what she had planned.

For starters, every other week she would drop me off in the middle of Training Ground 44, aka, The Forest of Death. I was expected to stay there for at least 3 days during which I would be surviving off the land and aiming to collect pelts from certain creatures that inhabited that place. She was apparently of the idea that I had been progressing so quickly that I was seemingly ready for this kind of training.

She was right...mostly.

I had little problem keeping myself alive in the face of the ferocious beasts that dwelled in that place, but it was mainly the intricacies of 'survival' that I had issues with. Kotoe didn't allow me any equipment because ' _There will be times when you are alone in a foreign environment with nothing more than your two legs and feet to keep you company. You have to learn to survive without having a lot of materials.'_

The only saving grace of this whole thing was that she allowed me to have some water and that I got repeat quests for surviving in this place. That, however, didn't change the fact that I had to learn how to hunt for my food, find clean sources of water, and learn which plants were poisonous or not. That last one, especially, was a painfully learned lesson as I managed to increase my poison resistance quite a bit.

At least they now had less effect on me.

I made sure the storage seals where I kept the pelts were all safe before I made my way out of the gates to the forest.

 _ **Daily Quest Complete!**_

 _ **Training Arc IV**_

 _ **Objective 1: Survive for 3 or more days in the forest of death while completing your Teacher's objectives.**_

 _ **Objective 1 reward: 1000 EXP, +1 Stat Points**_

I breathed out a sigh of exhaustion before I noticed that a colorful looking scroll on the ground in front of me. It was hard to miss, but the most notable thing was that t had my name.

" _A message from Kotoe."_ I thought before I moved towards it. I suddenly stopped when I thought of something. With narrowed eyes, I jumped backward while throwing a handful of kunai near the scroll.

Instantly, the place around where I had been was barraged with throwing needles and out of nowhere a net trap appeared from the ground and snapped up the empty area that I had been in.

My eye twitched before I looked around some more and decided it was safe. I picked up the scroll and quickly read through its contents.

 _Hey Yoru, if you have managed to get to this scroll without falling into the traps, then I'm happy to say that my training paid off._

 _Anyway, I kinda knew when you were coming out, so if you are reading this then make sure to shower up and meet me at the Namikaze-Uzumaki house._

I wondered if it was one of those days where I could hang out there? But I wasn't surprised that she had been watching over me during my training in this place. Regardless I shrugged and made my way back home. With a quick shower and a fresh pair of clothes, I made my way to Minato and Kushina's place.

I knocked on the door a couple times and scratched my chin in thought when I got no answer. " _Well if they are expecting me…_ " I placed my right palm on a seal tag that was on the door and flared my chakra. The seal glowed for a second then the door opened for me.

If I hadn't been expected, then the seal would simply not function and if I tried to force my way in...well it's a good thing I never did. I walked into the house and noticed that it was pretty dark inside and it had me wondering if they had really been expecting me. I switched on the light switch right next to me and covered my eyes for a moment as I adjusted to the brightness-

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

My eyes widened as I gazed upon the forms of Team Minato, the Namikaze himself, Kushina, and my own teacher Kotoe. Everyone was smiling save for Kakashi who really never smiled.

"...You guys." I said softly.

My teacher grinned then dragged me to the cake that was prepared. It had 5 thin candles on top that burned with a small flame, "I know that you usually didn't celebrate your birthday, but I thought it would be a good change of pace if we were to celebrate it today." She paused as she put her hands on my shoulders and made me face the cake, "Now then birthday boy make a wish."

I looked at the smiling faces of the people that were here before me, then at the burning candles on the cake as an unknown feeling welled up inside me. I couldn't quite comprehend why I felt this way and I didn't know what to do.

"Eh? Yoru are you okay?" I heard Kushina ask as she looked at me worriedly. I didn't know why she was worried and I could see my caretaker looking at me with a slight frown before she smiled warmly.

"It's alright Yoru. I got your back." She stated before she wiped something from beneath my eyes and it was then that I noticed.

My eyes were wet.

"...Something got into them." I muttered, though, from everyone's smiling faces, I got the impression they didn't believe me.

"Of course it did Yoru." Kotoe said with a knowing smirk, "Now blow out the candles and make your wish already, we need to move unto the presents." I nodded and closed my eyes for a moment beforer opening them and blowing out the candles. Kotoe cut up the cake and distributed it to the people around. I had the pleasure of seeing Kakashi eat the cake without removing his mask.

I wondered how he did that?

"Alright time for the main event." Kotoe stated, snapping me out of my thoughts. She turned towards me with a couple scrolls in her possession before she handed them to me, "Happy birthday Yoru."

I took the scrolls in her hands and my eyes widened, "These are…!"

 **Would you like to learn the skill 'Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu'?**

 **Yes/No**

 **Would you like to learn the skill 'Lightning Style: Lightning Strike Jutsu'?**

 **Yes/No**

I dismissed the prompts while watching my mentor, "I have had you build on your foundations for about a year now, so I think you are ready." She paused as she pointed at the scrolls, "I believe it is best for you to focus on these two for now since these elements are the ones I'm most proficient in. I wouldn't want you to focus on too much for now."

I nodded as I understood the subtle meaning of her words. Even though I had affinities for all 5 chakra natures, it would be time-consuming for me to become proficient in the techniques of all 5 nature types while simultaneously focusing on my normal training routine.

Seeing me understand, she smiled then looked towards Minato and Kushina. "Well go on, I'm not the only one who got you something you know." I tried not to act surprised as I walked up to the couple.

I noticed the lightly smiling faces of Minato and Kushina and it was the former who spoke, "Yoru, it's been great having you around. Kushina and I really didn't know what to get you for today, but then we remembered…" He took out a scroll and a bunch of paint brushes and presented them to me alongside a fuuinjutsu seal tag. "We remembered that you showed interest in fuuinjutsu, but I couldn't really give you instructions since I had my own team to work on-"

"-and I hadn't known you well enough at the time to allow you to learn my clan secrets." Kushina finished, but she continued with a smile, "but I believe in your character and I won't mind giving you some tips and advice on them." She then handed me a book and pointed to it and the scrolls in my hand, "We decided it would be fine for you to have some tools to practice with so the scroll and brushes are to help you practice your calligraphy while this book is some basic information on fuinjutsu such as the basic storage tags and exploding tags."

She picked up seal tag that Minato gave me alongside the scroll and brushes before pressing her finger in the center of the seal on the tag. I raised my brow when her finger was painted black and she looked at me with a smile, "This is a specially made storage seal that has a _lot_ of ink. All you have to do is press your brush in the center of the seal and it will give you some ink to work with. This should last you a few months."

Before even giving me a moment to be surprised, Kushina took the scroll Minato gave me, opened it, and drew a line through the white paper with her inked finger. She explained to me, "This scroll is also specially made so that you can 'erase' all the ink marks you made on it while practicing your calligraphy. It will save you the trouble of having to buy new pieces of blank paper to practice with." She rolled up the scroll and pointed to a seal on the back of it "Channel chakra through here and it will erase the marks you made on the scroll."

I took the scroll and did just that. The seal lines lit up with a dull light before I opened the scroll and noticed that the streak Kushina had made was gone.

"Happy birthday Yoru." They stated with a smile.

I gripped the scroll tightly, placed my hands to my sides, and bowed deeply. "Thank you so much for your gift. I promise you that I will never betray the trust and expectations you have for me. If there is any way that I can ever repay you-"

"Oi! Stop being so uptight and just accept it!" I heard Obito say as he came up to me a displeased expression on his face, "We didn't come here because of some expectations or whatever. We came here to celebrate the day you were born, eat some cake, and have some fun!" I could tell everyone agreed from their smiling faces and the slightly less impassive expression on Kakashi's face, though I couldn't really tell with that mask on.

"...Thank you, everyone." I said softly

"Alright enough of this!" Obito grabbed my wrist while I looked on impassively. Though the grin on his face was mildly unsettling.

"Let's play!"

* * *

 **Day 710**

Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months as almost 2 years had passed since I had 'regained consciousness' in this world, so to speak, or whatever had happened to me. Ever since my birthday almost a year ago, my visits to the Namikaze-Uzumaki compound had been slightly more frequent, but my training schedule hadn't changed too much. My teacher had added some ninjutsu training after that day, mainly focusing on the scrolls that she gave me, and the basics of ninjutsu that all ninja were supposed to learn.

 **Kawarimi (Active) Lvl 35 [23.65%]**

 **Kawarimi is a technique that allows the user to replace their own body with some other object, generally with a block of wood or a log, the moment an attack lands. With an increase in level, the distance that you can replace your body with objects increases.**

 **Current Range: 350 meters.**

 **Costs: 50 CP**

 **Henge (Active) Lvl 65**

 **The henge technique is typically used to change into people other than oneself, but one also has the ability to change into animals, plants, and even inanimate objects like weapons. This gives the technique a wide range of versatility. There is a caveat, however, as a transformation performed by an inexperienced person will have obvious discrepancies and it will be impossible to deceive anyone with it. Leveling up this skill will allow the realism of your transformation to increase and at a certain level, your 'transformations' become more than mere illusions and actually become true transformations that will be nearly impossible to tell apart from the real thing.**

 **65% Henge Realism**

 **Costs: 50 CP**

 **Shunshin (Active) Lvl 90 [23.42%]**

 **The Shunshin, also known as the Body Flicker technique, is a skill that ninja can use to move long distances at an almost untraceable speed. To an observer, it appears as if the user has teleported. It is accomplished by using chakra to temporarily vitalize the body and move at extreme speeds**

 **Current range: 900 meters**

 **Costs: 100 CP**

 **Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu (Active) Lvl 45 [12.34%]**

 **Water Bullet Jutsu allows the user to shoot compressed balls of water from their mouth. The technique's range, the number of bullets and power increases proportionally to its level.**

 **Current Range: 45 meters**

 **Damage: 450% ENGY**

 **Current # of Bullets: 4**

 **Cost: 350 CP**

 **Lightning Style: Lightning Strike Jutsu (Active) Lvl 48 [43.23%]**

 **The Lightning Strike Jutsu allows the user to create an electric current that can hit multiple individuals at the same time. Furthermore, it can extend incredible distances and can avoid obstacles.**

 **Current range: 96 meters**

 **Damage: 528% ENGY**

 **Cost: 500 CP**

I smiled as I looked at the increase in my skill set and levels. There was honestly a lot of skills that I had improved upon and a few more I had gained along the way such as,

 **Basic Calligraphy (Passive) Lvl 20 [34.58%]**

 **A basic and non-combative technique that improves one's penmanship and their artistic side. Allows for better-drawn pictures, written kanji, and designs.**

 **Penmanship improved by 20%**

 **Writing speed increased by 20%**

 **20% chance of having no faults in characters drawn**

More importantly, I had gained a few skills after my _base_ stats had reached 50. The bonuses I got from my skills did not count towards receiving perk skills for my stats, but in the end, I couldn't complain especially since they were pretty useful.

 **Energy Conductor (Passive) Lvl [Max]**

 **Energy Conductor is the ability is given to those with high amounts of any form of Energy. The user becomes more in tune with their own energy's nature allowing them greater energy control.**

 **20% Increase to your energy regeneration**

 **20% Increase to your energy capacity**

 **10% Damage increase to energy based attacks**

 **High Energy Capacity (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **High Energy Capacity is an elite ability given to the few users that are born with a very exceptional ability to handle any form of Energy.**

 **30% Damage Increase to Energy-Based attacks**

 **20% Less Energy Usage for all abilities.**

 **Eidetic Memory (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **Eidetic Memory is an ability given to extremely Intelligent individuals. This allows for the one given the ability to recall everything they perceive with an accuracy of 100% percent.**

 **Perception (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **Perception is a skill granted to those with great Wisdom. With great brain capability comes the increase in efficiency of all human senses. Sight, Hearing, Taste, Touch and Smell increase by your percentage WIS value. (If you have 200 WIS, then your senses will increase by 200%)**

 **Iron Body (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **Iron Body is an ability given to those rare few born with surpassing Vitality. The user possesses a body with great resistance to harm and unending strength to endure.**

 **50% Increase to Chakra recovery rate.**

 **25% Increase to Durability**

 **10% Increase to total HP amount.**

 **10% Increase to total Chakra amount.**

 **Dense muscle (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **Dense muscle is a skill given to those with overwhelming Strength. The denseness of your muscled increases greatly, allowing you to suffer less damage from physical attacks.**

 **Your STR value counts as damage reduction to physical attacks**

 **Cat's Grace (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **Cat's Grace is a skill given to those with a high level of dexterity and allows you to have the elegance of movement as a feline. You acquire 'Cat Like' reflexes and you take less damage from falling from extraordinary heights that would usually damage you.**

 **50% increase to reflexes and movement speed**

 **Decrease fall damage by 50%**

My base **ENGY** stat had already reached **100** and so I had gained another Passive perk for it. I had almost broken my impassive facade at the face my teacher made when she had checked my chakra some time back. Apparently, I had as much chakra as a Jonin level shinobi with even more control than the average ninja. I got the feeling that she was a tad envious at me from how she tortu- trained me afterward.

There were a lot of other skills that I had improved upon such as my **Chakra Sonar** and a variety of others, but I stopped myself from checking them as I saw my destination. It was the mouth of a dark cave where Kotoe stated she had kept my graduation gift.

I gripped my fists as I thought about how Michigan I knew I would miss being with her. The thought that I would eventually join the ranks of ROOT and go off on my own had barely registered to me in the close to 2 years I spent with my teacher. It wasn't until she had told me that my training with her would be over soon, did I realize how much I cared for that woman. She was the closest thing to a mother I had, but she was also my teacher and friend.

I shook my head from those thoughts as the mouth of the cave stared me back. Even though I would go my own way, that didn't mean that I would not see Kotoe or that she wouldn't be my teacher anymore, it was just that I would be unable to see her as often. I imagine that I would be in a lot of missions especially due to the currently escalating tensions between the villages.

War was annoying.

Regardless of my feelings, I needed to pass her test and get that gift. I looked at my stats and prepared for the challenge ahead

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Race: Human?**

 **Level: Lvl 40 Next Level: 1,250/82,100**

 **HP: 12922/12922 Regen: (226.15 per min)**

 **CP:** **32857/32857** **Regen: (640.72 per min)**

 **CC: 95%**

 **STR: 129.2**

 **VIT: 138.7**

 **DEX: 136.8**

 **INT: 200.1**

 **WIS: 190.9**

 **ENGY: 336**

 **Points: 287**

 **Ryo: 1000**

My **Observe** has risen to such a level that I was able to see my teacher's complete stats. I wasn't surprised when I noticed that she still outclassed me in most of my stats, but it made me realize that I still had a long way to go. My teacher had told me that simply judging from my physical prowess, I would be classified as a Mid-Chunin level shinobi.

In conjunction with the fact that my training had become more diversified over time, my physical training had been giving me stat points at a slower rate thereby limiting the number of times I could grow stronger. Regardless, I was confident enough that I would be fine for this test.

With that, I used my **Chakra Sonar** skill in order to detect any chakra signatures that may have been hidden.

 **Chakra Sonar (Passive/Active) LV 65 [5.45%]**

 **DEFAULT SETTING: (1 pulse every 5 seconds)**

 **MAXIMUM RANGE: (650 meters)**

 **Cost: 5 CP per pulse**

I got some feedback soon after, and my brows furrowed as I felt a large life signature in the cave. I knew she would not have made this easy, but a boy could still dream. With caution in my steps, I made my way into the cave, my **Sonar** skill set on autopilot effectively making me a sensor. I paid attention as the life signature I had locked onto moved and tightly gripped my kunai as it headed towards me.

I wish I could have just snuck in and taken the item, but of course, my sensei wanted proof of my victory over the guardian of this cavern, so sneaking wasn't an option. My eyes narrowed as the beast was suddenly 400 meters away and seemed to be charging straight at me. In less than a second, it was suddenly 250 meters away, but I gripped my weapon and waited for it to arrive.

The ground around me seemed to quake as a gargantuan 5 meters tall figure appeared in front of me. It had armored scales creating a rugged hide; Slitted eyes, and a forked tongue. Through its gaping maw, I noticed it's saliva dripping with tinges of blood.

" _A gigantic Komodo Dragon,"_ I thought.

Neat.

Ping!

 _ **Daily Quest Alert!**_

 _ **Training Arc Finale**_

 _ **Your beautiful but sadistic teacher has trained you in the skills expected of a shinobi, but now it is time for you to graduate. Of course, considering what type of individual she is, your teacher is not going to make this easy. Show her how much you have grown.**_

 _ **Objective 1: Defeat the Gigantic Komodo Dragon and take proof of your kill**_

 _ **Objective 2: Secure your Graduation present**_

 _ **Objective 1 reward: +5 Stat points**_

 _ **Objective 2 reward: A Cool Graduation Present**_

 _ **Failure: Kotoe will be disappointed in you. You don't want that**_

 **Do You Accept?**

 **Y/N**

I selected **Y** just in time to hear the beast release a deafening roar. I had to close my eyes at the wind generated from the giant lizard and my nose wrinkled in disgust at the thing's rancid breath.

" _Observe"_

 **Giant Komodo Dragon LVL 38**

 **HP: 50,000**

 **CP: 20,000**

 **STR: 230**

 **VIT: 300**

 **DEX: 100**

 **INT: 50**

 **WIS: 30**

 **ENGY: 150**

 **LUK: 5**

 **Perks:**

 **Dense Scales:** Reduces physical damage by 30%.

 **Description:**

A giant beast that dwells inside a cave located in the depths of the forest of death. This beast is very territorial and will attack anyone who trespasses in its domain, granted that it realizes that they have trespassed. It's tough scales create a natural defense that reduces the effectiveness of attacks and its venom is as deadly as its size. Tread carefully.

 **EXP Gain: 25,000**

 **Drops: ?, ?, ?**

" _She never fails to make things Interesting…"_ With that, I jumped backward as the claw of the monster smashed the ground where I once stood. My hands blurred as I flipped through hand seals causing my cheeks to swell with fluid and 4 bullets of highly pressurized water to spew from my mouth.

In an amazing show of dexterity for its size, the giant lizard managed to dodge 2 of the 4 speeding water bullets with a quick tilt is its head. The impact of the two bullets that hit it, however, caused the beast to step back a step, though other than that it looked more enraged than hurt.

 **450% ENGY = 1512**

 **1512 + Damage Bonuses =** **2495**

 **450% ENGY = 1512**

 **1512 + Damage Bonuses =** **2495**

 **HP: 45,010/50,000**

With a roar of fury and a show of amazing speed, the beast turned its body and swung its tail towards me at incredibly high speeds. Right before the attack made contact, I ducked and went through a few hand signs, but I was forced to jump out of the way as stones flew towards me.

The Lizard may have missed its mark, but it used its tail's momentum to impact the expansive cave's wall and send large shards of rock my way. With my vision obstructed, my danger sense suddenly screamed at me to move to which I quickly responded by jumping up in the air, just in time for a gaping jaw to snap at the area I had just been standing.

Now airborne, I had little ability to dodge and could only watch forebodingly as glowing red lines appeared on the Komodo Dragon's neck. With a roar of exertion, the immense lizard shot an intense beam of red flames that shot towards me at near sonic speeds.

" _A fire-breathing Komodo Dragon...neat."_

I remained calm as the chakra, that I had channeled through my earlier hand seals, flowed through me and vibrates at an intense frequency. The whole process occurred almost instantaneously and with a silent shout, I launched a powerful electric current from my hands which impacted the beam of fire that had been thrown my way.

The force of my attack was enough to rebuff me to the cave ceiling after which I stopped my attack and went through some hand seals, just before the lizard's attack impacted me.

All it saw were the ashy remains of a log from my substitution, but I didn't allow it any time to regain its bearings. I appeared right next to its large open eye and I could notice the dilation of the dragon's slitted pupils as it caught sight of me beside it. The lizard was too slow to react to the intense current of light that shot out from my outstretched arm.

" _Lightning Style: Raigeki (Lightning Strike)"_

 **Critical!**

 **528% ENGY = 1774**

 **1774 + Damage Bonuses = 2930**

 **2930 x 2 =** **5860**

 **HP: 39,150/50,000**

The enormous reptile roared in pain at the damage my attack had done to it. It closed its now mostly destroyed eye and tried to turn its head to glare at me

But I was no longer there.

As soon as my attack connected, I snuck into the underbelly of the beast where there were no scales to protect itself. I reinforced my body with chakra increasing my body's Attack, Speed, and defensive capabilities. With a leap, I cocked my fist back and impacted the exposed belly of the reptile.

 **(STR + VIT + DEX) x 3 = 1214**

 **1214 + Added Bonuses =** **2915**

 **HP: 36,235/50,000**

The strength of my impact lifted it off the ground and I heard its roar of fury as pain no doubt spread through its body, but I furrowed my brows. This thing had an immense level of vitality and it would take me more than a few hits to finally kill it.

I broke myself out of my thoughts and leaped away from the now rampaging beast. Its throes of anger was causing it to thrash about and indiscriminately target anything in its immediate surroundings.

" _I could work with that."_

It was distracted and angry, giving me enough time to do something I had practiced before. I flipped through the hand seals for my water gun technique, filling up my mouth with fluid in the process. With that set, I flipped through the hand signs for my Lightning Strike.

My lungs filled with air and my mouth with water, I released 4 bullets of pressurized water at the rampaging beast. Before the bullets had even traveled a foot away from me, I channeled the lightning, from my Raigeki, into the bullets thereby drastically increasing their destructive and penetrative power.

 **528% + 450% ENGY = 3286**

 **3286 + Damage Bonuses =** **6245**

 **528% + 450% ENGY = 3286**

 **3286 + Damage Bonuses =** **6245**

 **528% + 450% ENGY = 3286**

 **3286 + Damage Bonuses =** **6245**

 **528% + 450% ENGY = 3286**

 **3286 + Damage Bonuses =** **6245**

 **HP: 11,255/50,000**

My highly pressurized electric water attacks had pierced through the lizard's hide and shocked it from within. The compounded damage caused the monster to howl in agony, though it was still alive.

One of the reasons my teacher had given me a lightning and water technique to work with was because they complemented each other. Since water could conduct lightning, a lightning release technique could be used to increase the damage of a water release technique. The best part was that the combination attack also included both my **Natural Lightning Affinity** bonuses and my **Natural Water Affinity** bonuses into the damage calculation. This meant currently when I used the attack, I would get a 50% bonus to my jutsu effect instead of the individual 25% bonus when I used just a single element.

My combination attack, however, took a long enough time to prepare that it was not suitable to use in the midst of a battle unless the enemy was severely distracted. Shinobi battled at high speeds and battles between two enemies could last less than 15 seconds during which hundreds of moves could have been exchanged. Fortunately, I was facing a beast who wasn't quite as intelligent nor nearly as fast as a skilled shinobi.

I noticed smoke coming out of the rather large bullet holes from my attack and I capitalized on this opportunity.

Tiger → Snake → Dog

I rushed up to the rampaging beast, ducked a rage induced tail swipe to my head, and jumped up to the bloody hole on the beast's side. My hand charged with lightning, I stuck it inside the reptile's gaping wound.

" _Lightning Style: Raigeki"_

 **Fatal!**

 **528% ENGY = 1774**

 **1774 + Damage Bonuses = 2930**

 **2930 x 5 =** **14650**

 **HP: 0/50,000**

The beast gave one last deafening cry of anguish before it slumped to the ground dead. I breathed out a sigh of exhaustion and sat down next to the downed lizard, idly using my **Chakra Sonar** skill to make sure that there weren't any more enemies near me.

My last attack, based on the physiology of most quadruped reptiles, had most likely pierced its heart. The wounds left by my Lightning/Water combination attack had been very deep, allowing me access to the exposed inner flesh of the Komodo Dragon. I had aimed my combination attack near the heart of the beast giving me easier access to it after the lightning water bullets had pierced its hide.

With that, my Lightning Strike was easily able to reach its heart through its soft flesh allowing for a much faster kill.

I rotated my arms around to get rid of the invisible stiffness and tilted my neck enough to hear a small 'crack'. With that, I turned to face the beast and raised my brow in surprise at a message I had received.

 **Would you like to loot the enemy and allow only the necessary drops to remain?**

 **Y/N**

" _This is making it more like a game."_ I thought as I shrugged and clicked **Y**. The monster suddenly turned into motes of light, that sunk into the cavern floor, before a few items dropped to the ground: Some large fangs, The monster's hide, and a glowing red orb that seemed to pulse with energy.

I picked them up and read through their descriptions.

 **Komodo Dragon Fang (20):**

A large fang from the mouth of a large Komodo dragon. It has venomous properties from the beast it was once a part of that can be extracted and used for a variety of things from making antidotes

 **Komodo Dragon Scales:**

The scales of Giant Komodo dragons boast superb defensive abilities and are furthermore conductive to chakra. They can be sown into a material to promote their defensive capabilities and longevity.

 **Chakra Beast Core (Komodo Dragon):**

Powerful chakra beasts sometimes generate a core, made up of crystalized chakra, that is based on one of their attributes. These cores can be absorbed by humans with chakra or other chakra beasts to improve their physical capabilities and, based on the attribute of the Chakra Beast the core came from, they can also be used to improve one's chakra affinity.

Gain 10% of the Komodo Dragon's **STR, VIT,** And **ENGY** stat

Greatly increase your **Natural Fire Affinity**

I raised my brow while looking at the description of the last one.

" _Well...that's new."_

* * *

 **I loved and hated writing this chapter. I felt like it was an info dump, but I liked writing the interaction Yoru had with the people in his life. I wanted to make it faster without seeming like I was rushing, but I have no idea how I did. I at least hope the battle was satisfying.**

 **Also yes, the ninja's in Naruto have VERY high reaction speeds. Some may not agree or like the fact that I make them sonic level to High hypersonic speeds in some cases, but that's how I have interpreted their physical abilities based on the show and other pieces of evidence. I don't feel like ranting about evidence to support my decision and it is also my fanfiction so meh.**

 **(P.S. I use for my power and level scaling a good amount of the time, though I, of course, adjust it to my needs.)**


	5. Chapter 5

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

I tossed the orb up and down while humming in thought. My vague memories of this world didn't have any information on something like this, so they were pretty useless. Regardless, I could always just ask my teacher about this thing, after all, she was a pretty knowledgeable person.

With that done, I went in deeper into the cave to look for my present. I moved forward carefully and constantly sent my chakra sonar skill pulsing just in case there was another threat that suddenly popped up.

I suddenly stopped still and glanced lazily in front of me as my **Trap Detection** skill pinged softly.

 **Trap Detection (Passive) Lvl 90 [48.67%]**

 **Trap Detection allows you to better sense/detect the presence of traps. It is a sub-skill of Danger Sense due to the fact that not all Traps will necessarily be dangerous to you.**

 **90% chance to detect traps**

I half-heartedly threw a kunai at the ground ahead of me, causing a pitfall trap to appear. Spikes shot out of the pitfall before kunai rained down from above into the pitfall. No sooner did explosions detonate from within the pitfall, a heat wave spreading out from the trap.

My eye twitched, " _Is she trying to kill me…"_

After the fireworks were over, I blandly looked at the charred ground around the pitfall and simply walked forward. Eventually, after a few more traps, I came across an opening to the room and saw the smiling face of my teacher.

I looked around the room, searching for something, before stating plainly, "…Where is my present?"

The smile on her lips dropped a little, "You wound me. Am I not enough of a prize?"

I gave her a dull look to which she shook her head with a smile, "Fine here you go kid. I figured this would be helpful due to your large reserves."

I caught the scroll she threw my way and smiled when I looked at it.

 **Would you like to learn [Shadow Clone Technique]?**

 **Y/N**

 _ **Daily Quest Complete!**_

 _ **Training Arc Finale**_

 _ **Objective 1 reward: +5 Stat points**_

 _ **Objective 2 reward: A Cool Graduation Present**_

"Thank you Teacher." I said

She shrugged before smiling, "I think you could make the most out of that thing, so don't worry about it." She walked up to me and patted my head, "Unfortunately, this is going to be our last training session for a little while. You're going to go on your first mission after all and it's going to take a good amount of your time."

"I'm going to miss you." I said softly.

The woman looked at me strangely before she started fighting back laughter. "Pfft!"

"I'm glad I'm the only one who doesn't find this humorous."

Kotoe rapidly shook her head, "N-No it's something else, but don't look so down kid it doesn't suit you."

I nodded and hugged her, my 4 foot 3-inch body only making it up to my 5-foot 8-inch teacher's lower rib cage.

"A shinobi should be more in control of his/her emotions." She berated, though there was no heat to her tone.

"It's fine, I barely have any." I said looking up to her.

"I don't believe that." She started, looking at me, "I think you simply have a hard time expressing yourself. You're a lot better now than you were in the past."

I raised my brow, idly wondering how much more emotionless I could have been before I separated from her. Taking that as her cue, she began to explain, "Tomorrow we will meet with Lord Danzo to get your mission report. Tensions between the villages have already reached the breaking point and skirmishes are already happening between them. I need you to come prepared and stacked."

Seeing me nod seriously, she continued, "Alright, let's get cleaned up." She paused before she remembered something, "Ohh yeah, did you get any spoils from your battle?"

I was about to ask her anyway, so I nodded "Yeah I got a few things." I replied while taking a single fang, the large pelt, and the red orb from my inventory, making it look like I took it from storage seals.

Her eyes widened when she saw the orb and she whistled appreciatively. "Damn kid, you really have amazing luck."

"I take it you know what this is then?"

She nodded slightly, "Yep, it's very rare for one of these things to appear in a chakra beast. Basically, it's the crystallization of their chakra which occurs after a long period of, usually after decades, and its potency depends on the beast's strength."

I held up the red orb to eye level, "So how do I use this?"

She suddenly looked at me seriously, "To be honest it's kind of a good thing that you didn't just ingest it or something. Usually, elemental cores are dangerous to individuals who don't have a natural affinity for that element if they don't take the time to absorb it."

I paused at that statement. "…Is it normal for someone to put a random object, that they found in the body of an animal, in their mouth?" I asked oddly.

Her face suddenly looked strained, "You will meet shinobi in your life that will make you question the definition of normality."

Huh.

I brought back my attention to the orb and looked at her with a raised brow. "I still don't know how to use this."

"Well since you have a natural affinity for all elements…" her expression turned annoyed as she stated that. "Then absorbing this or any other elemental Chakra Beast Cores won't harm you as long as you know how to do it safely." She then pointed at the orb in my hands and continued, "All you have to do is 'wrap' your chakra around the energy in the orb and bring it back into you. It's best to wrap around a little bit at a time to get the most benefits."

I nodded and put it away since I could do that later tonight. "What do you want with these then?" I asked while holding up the fang and pointing at the giant pelt on the ground.

"I'm going to assume that you have more than one of those fangs, so in that case, it's best to just save them for venom extraction. As for the pelt-" She pursed her lips, "It is pretty good for upgrading your defense and it will sell well, so take good care of it. We, unfortunately, won't have time to make something out of it, but afterward, we should have time."

"Thank you." I said putting them away.

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Now let's get out of here."

We both performed shunshin and disappeared from the area.

* * *

"So you're about to go on your first mission?" A red-haired woman asked as we ate around the table. Kotoe and I weren't really strangers to this family anymore and were welcome to come here as long as either Minato or Kushina were around. Though nowadays, Kushina didn't go out on missions and stayed at home more while Minato had been taking fewer missions as of late. The reason?

I looked at her now large belly and replied simply, "Yeah and it might take a while, though I hope I don't miss the big day." I never actually thought that Kushina had been serious that day when she said she wanted a child. I wondered how much this screwed up my already foggy knowledge of this world?

She rubbed her stomach affectionately, "Yeah, wouldn't it be nice of you to meet your little sister on day one?"

I blinked at her statement before hearing Minato's voice. "How do you know it's going to be a girl?" The blonde asked beside her. On the table around, only Kakashi from his Genin team was here while Obito and Rin were most likely with their families. I knew that Obito loved to stay with his Grandmother while Rin had her own family to worry about as well.

Kushina looked at him with a smile, "Mother's intuition. I bet you that it'll be a girl."

Minato suddenly looked interested, "Ohh? And what're the stakes?

The smile on Kushina's face grew wider, "If I'm right, you will always have to take care of night duty for the baby whenever you are here."

The look of horror on Minato's face made me wonder how bad that actually was. I looked at my teacher and asked curiously, "How bad can it be? He doesn't look so good right now."

Her look was highly amused as she finished swallowing her food, "I've heard stories Yoru and if even half of them aren't exaggerations, well suffice to say that I don't plan on getting a child anytime soon."

I raised a brow while continuing to listen to their bet. Kushina was looking smug while Minato was slightly sweating still. "What? are you scared Mi-na-to."

He grit his teeth before acquiescing, "Fine, but if I win?"

Kushina put on a thoughtful expression before she leaned forward and whispered into Minato's ear. The man's eyes widened comically before he blushed heatedly and coughed. "Alright, I think that sounds fair."

"…I wonder what she promised him."

"You're better off not knowing."

I shrugged and continued eating while enjoying the atmosphere of the dining room. Eventually, we all finished our meals, so I helped clear up the table with Kushina and everyone else. I placed my hand out to stop her from continuing any further before taking the plates she was carrying. "You shouldn't push yourself too much, especially when you are this close to giving birth."

"Well aren't you so sweet Yoru? You're already so protective of your little sister." She replied stroking my head.

"…"

She smiled proudly, "Don't worry Yoru, I'm not some fragile piece of glass. Even like this, I can still devour 20 bowls of Ramen no problem!"

"….No that's not something to be proud of."

The woman smiled at me kindly before stating, "I'm happy for your concern, but I'm a proud Jonin Kunoichi of the Leaf. If clearing a few dishes while pregnant was all it took for me to be put out of commission, then it would be a disgrace to my status."

I nodded my head slowly, after all, she was right. "I apologize if I offended you."

"You don't have to be like that Yoru." Kushina said with a smile. "Now come on and finish up. You've got a long day ahead of you tomorrow don't you?"

I nodded and continued clearing up the place. On a side note, I had finally figured out how Kakashi could eat with his mask still on after I asked him once since I was facing a similar issue. I swore his expression underneath his mask was smug aster he had seen mine of disbelief when he told me. To think that the answer had been so simple…

I shook my head from those thoughts and focused on cleaning up. After helping Kushina and Minato with clean up, alongside Kakashi and Kotoe, we all relaxed and talked with each other for awhile before it was time to leave.

Minato looked at me calmly before placing a hand on my shoulder as I said my goodbyes, "I don't really know what to tell you to do for your first mission because everyone acts differently, however, make sure to always keep your guard up and never lose your nerves."

"Thank you, I'll make sure to keep that in mind Mr. Minato." I replied with a slight bow.

He waved off my mannerisms with a smile before Kushina tacked me in a hug, "And make sure you don't die before you get to see my baby girl."

"…I'll try not to."

Kushina smiled before suddenly blinking. "Ahh, before I forget!" Saying so, she looked towards Minato whose eyes suddenly widened in remembrance before he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

I'm but a moment, however, he reappeared with a scroll and handed it over to me. "Kushina and I decided to give you a little gift just in case it gets rough out there."

I blinked and looked at the scroll in speculation. "…What's in it?"

A dark smile made its way upon Kushina's lips as she replied, "Specially made explosive tags. One of those can easily take out a city block."

I raised a brow and looked at the scroll before carefully putting it away. "I see…thank you." I said with a short bow.

Kushina waved me off. "You need to stop being so serious, it really wasn't a big deal." Having said so, she smiled, "Now make sure you come back alive."

"I will." Was my reply and with that, I said my goodbyes and gave a quick wave to Kakashi who was leaving as well to which he replied with a nod of acknowledgment.

Kotoe and I left the house and eventually made it back to our home where we quickly showered. Kotoe looked at me as she dried off her damp hair, "After this, I'm going to help you absorb that core since it will be beneficial for your development."

I nodded my head in understanding before looking at her contemplatively, "What about you? Couldn't this also help you out as well?"

Kotoe shook her head while grinning, "That's thoughtful Yoru, but I'm all set. The core doesn't even match any of my elemental affinities so the amount of time it would take for me to absorb it would be way longer. That's not even mentioning the fact that I would see fewer benefits due to the mismatch of the elemental affinities."

I filed away that information as I finished drying off myself and agreed with my teacher's words. With that, I took out the orb from my 'storage seal' and made my way to the bed, my teacher beside me.

"I can lead you through the process since I'm a sensor and can tell when you are doing something wrong with your chakra. Start by sending out your chakra and try to 'wrap' it around a small amount of energy in the orb. I'll guide you through the process so don't worry."

I listened to my teacher's instructions and focused my chakra outward, visualizing a 'hand' that grabbed a chunk of the energy.

"Good, now retract your chakra back into your body, with the energy from the core intact, and assimilate it into your chakra core."

My eyes closed, I did exactly as she described and carefully brought the energy back into my core. Instantly, I could feel a surging warmth coming from my abdomen that seemed to spread outwards from that epicenter.

Kotoe placed a hand on my stomach and I could feel her chakra seep into my body before she quickly instructed, "Now quickly make your chakra flow through your coils with the new energy so that it can assimilate evenly throughout."

I did as instructed and felt the warmth spread all over my body. The hot energy of the Chakra Core fully settled down within me allowing me the opportunity to repeat the process of absorption a few more times. Eventually, I released a breath when I had drained the chakra and my teacher looked at me in approval. "Not bad, you caught on quickly." She ran her eyes over my body before placing her hands on my stomach and sensing my chakra "I can't tell you how much your physical attributes have increased by, but your chakra has improved quite a large amount."

 **Congratulations, your STR has increased by 23!**

 **Congratulations, your VIT has increased by 30!**

 **Congratulations, your ENGY has increased by 15!**

 **Congratulations, 'Natural Fire Affinity' has increased by 10!**

 **Congratulations, The skill 'Second Wind' has been granted by reaching 100 VIT**

 **Second Wind (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **When your HP reaches 0, Second Wind allows you instantly recover 10% of your max HP. Can only be used once per day.**

My eyes widened severely at the notice that had appeared, but before I could think about them further, my body was suddenly wracked in pain. Pain so severe that I would have cried out if not for **Gamer's Mind**. I grit my teeth harshly as cold sweat fell down my forehead and I could feel the veins popping on my head.

I felt Kotoe wrap her arms around me and pulling me closer, "Unfortunately the other side effect of this is that the large influx of energy and strength your body gets can cause you immense pain. If your body isn't strong enough to handle it, it is very possible you will die, however, I've trained you enough that you should be able to handle this no problem. Just relax your body."

I took deep breaths and tried to follow her instruction relaxing into her warm body. "…I would have liked to have known this earlier." I said tiredly as I felt my eyes become heavy in fatigue.

I felt Kotoe rub my head affectionately, "I would have been there for you anyways Yoru. Just relax."

I didn't fight back and let myself succumb to the darkness.

* * *

 **J?'s POV**

" **Another day another night." I said as I worked from inside my and Yoru's soul. Unlike my other half, I didn't have to sleep, besides, there were still many issues I had to work out on this system that I had created.**

 **There were only a few more hijinks that I had to fix before it could run autonomously, but it would take quite a while. To me, however, time was pretty much meaningless.**

" **Now then…" I said before getting back to work. I still had some things to manage after all. I had been working on a new skill for my other half for a** _ **long**_ **time, but calculating spatial and temporal vectors was quite the challenge and proved complicated even for me. It's a good thing that I had managed to make a breakthrough after coming to this world and now the skill was just about finished. I had thought of the best way to introduce this skill to Yoru without making it seem cheap, but the answer had dropped right on my lap.**

 **Tomorrow's Mission.**

* * *

 **Yoru's POV**

 **You have slept in a bed. Your HP and MP have fully recovered.**

I woke up, my body filled with energy, before looking around and noting that Kotoe had also gotten up as well.

"it's good that you're awake. You have a long day ahead of you after all and you're going to need to be prepared." She stated as she stretched her limbs though I noted that she looked slightly annoyed and frustrated. Maybe she was upset that I'd be gone for a while?

I knew she cared.

"Don't worry teacher, I'll make sure to come back alive. I still have much to learn from you after all." I said seriously as I looked at her. Her annoyance and frustration disappeared, in its place thick amusement before she burst out laughing.

I looked at her dispassionately, "I'm still glad that I'm the only one who cares that we'll be separated for an unknown period of time."

She wiped a faux tear from her eyes as she looked at me with an ' _I know something you don't_ ' look, "N-No it's something else. You'll understand soon."

I decided that ignoring the strange woman was best and started to get out of best and prepare myself. The woman behind me did the same and in a moment we were fully clothed in our shinobi clothing.

I admired myself in the mirror for a moment after I was fully clothed. My 4-foot 3-inch frame was covered with the standard ANBU equipment: Black clothing, a grey flak jacket, metal arm guards and gloves, ninja sandals with spikes for traveling into mountainous regions, and three ninja pouches on my back-waist. Now all I needed was the signature spiral tattoo on my shoulder to complete the look. My face from the nose downward was covered with a face mask and I still had the same short white hair covering my head. And those silver eyes…I think they really worked well with me.

"Since you're ready, then let's go." Kotoe said as she too donned her uniform. I noted that she was fully geared up as well and couldn't help but ask, "Are you going on a mission as well?"

"Ohh look at the time! We have to go!" Without even waiting for my reply, she placed a hand on my shoulder and forced me to travel, using her Body Flicker. In but a moment, our scenery changed and we appeared in an underground cavern…place.

Kotoe simply walked forward and motioned to follow. Eventually, we came upon a door that we waited in front of for a while before Kotoe spoke, "We are expected."

She walked in, me following behind, and in front of me, I saw the bandaged visage of Danzo looking at us unemotionally.

"Lord Danzo." Kotoe and I said shortly with a bow.

The man in question nodded then spoke, "War has already approached our front door with the borders of our nation being threatened by the advancement of Iwagakure (Village Hidden by Rocks). Your mission is to aid Kusagakure (Village Hidden in the Grass) in pushing back the invasion of Iwa."

He paused letting the information sink in, before continuing. "If the Rock Village is able to successfully hold a fort in Kusa, then they will be able to lay siege to the border of the Land of Fire and we cannot let that happen." His voice was firm as he explained.

"2 other teams have already left for the mission so you will rendezvous with them at Kusa. Now-" he started, looking at me, "-As an ANBU member, you will have a separate identity, a second skin. Starting from now, whenever you are acting as a member of the ANBU you will be known as Squirrel. TURTLE!" he yelled.

Instantly a form dropped down from above in a kneeling position, "Yes Lord Danzo." The distinctly male form had on the typical ANBU uniform with a turtle face mask covering his visage.

I looked at the individual closely

 **Name: 'Turtle'  
Race: Human  
Level: Lvl 68**

 **HP: 50000/50000**

 **CP: 28900/** **28900**

 **STR: 550  
VIT: 500  
DEX: 700  
INT: 495  
WIS: 500**

 **ENGY: 425**

" _Wait why is he 'Turtle' if his_ _ **DEX**_ _is the highest..."_

No one answered my thoughts.

"You will make up the third member of this team with Kotoe being the team leader."

"As you wish Lord Danzo."

The bandaged man nodded, however, my mind was elsewhere, " _So that's why she looked amused…"_ I thought as I gazed at Kotoe's form. Even though it was barely visible, because I was standing right next to her, I could see her body slightly shaking as if trying to repress laughter. The entire thing about me missing her now kind of seemed like a joke, however, I inwardly rolled my eyes at her immaturity.

Danzo looked at Kotoe for a good while before speaking, "Since you have returned to ANBU from inactive duty, you will further be reinstated with your previous name, is that understood, Dove?"

"Yes Lord Danzo." Kotoe, now Dove, stated politely.

Danzo nodded his head before taking out a scroll and holding it outwards. Kotoe moved forward and took it with a bow. "This contains your mission parameters and for you two-" Danzo stated, looking at both Kotoe and me, "They also contain your second face. Wear them as proud shinobi of the Leaf."

* * *

 **Main Quest Alert!**

 **Secure The Borders!**

 **The Third Great Shinobi War has already started. Your mission, should you choose to accept it (you really don't have a choice) is to push back Iwagakure as much as possible so that they can't encroach on the Land of Fire's border.**

 **Reward: 500000 EXP, Skill Book**

 **Failure: Death**

* * *

"Yes, Lord Danzo" We chorused with a bow.

The man in question nodded his head before looking at me and stating, "There is one other thing I must do in order to maintain the integrity of Root. Yoru."

I bowed slightly and stepped forward before opening my mouth and sticking out my tongue. With a nod of approval, Danzo took out a stamp and placed it on my tongue. I could sense the chakra flowing from Danzo's body and into the stamp before I felt it travel from the stamp to my tongue. The chakra from the stamp molded itself before settling down, after which Danzo removed it.

"The secrets of our organization and the village must never be compromised, so I have placed the **Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal** on you should the worse come to pass and you are at the subject of your enemy. That is all. Dismissed."

"Yes, Lord Danzo" We chorused with a bow for the last time before the elder man went back to his desk work. We took that as the cue to leave and exited the room before Turtle turned to us. "I hope that we can work well together as fellow shinobi of the leaf. We are now partners."

"Likewise." Kotoe said simply and I followed.

The man nodded before looking at me and I could feel the atmosphere become serious, "I don't doubt Lord Danzo's decision to have you on this mission, however, I would like to ask; This is your first mission correct?"

"That's right." I said simply.

I couldn't tell with his mask on, but his tone became even more severe, "Where we are going, we will face enemy shinobi, people that you will be forced to fight and, when necessary, kill. Do you understand?"

I had understood that the moment I decided to become a ninja during the third shinobi war. The moment I agreed to Danzo's proposal almost 2 years ago, I had already lost whatever innocence I might have had. It would be naive to think that I could come out of being a shinobi without a pile of corpses and rivers of blood behind me.

So I completely understood.

My eyes made contact with the dark holes that allowed Turtle to see through his mask and emotionlessly replied, "….I understand."

The man looked me back for a while, my teacher by my side, before he shook his head, "You understand, but you aren't ready."

Before I could even reply, my teacher spoke up, "I believe that I have sufficiently prepared him well enough for any eventualities that may occur." She said sternly.

The man looked at her before shaking his head again, "It may be because you have been inactive for awhile Dove, however, you should remember that a ninja's first kill is nothing that they can prepare for."

His tone was somber as he continued, "Some change after their first skill, pretty much all for the worst. Some drown themselves in odd activities to keep their minds separated from their unfortunate reality; Some go into depression; some even enjoy their first kill and continue with the act for fun; few, such as yourself, find meaningful and helpful hobbies that bring them a sense of peace, however, the one thing they all have in common-" he turned his gaze back to me, "-is that they freeze up the first time they are confronted with the choice to take a life. No amount of training can prepare you for that situation; you can only experience it personally and grow through it."

Kotoe looked at him sharply, however, the man was quick to placate her, "I'm not saying that you haven't trained him well enough or that he doesn't have the skills to do what is necessary, I'm only questioning his resolve. I don't enjoy the fact that we have to use children in war, however, this is the world we live in and at the bare minimum I wish to make sure that my comrades, regardless of their age, are prepared."

She seemed to relax slightly before she replied, "I appreciate your concern Turtle and I will make sure that my charge is ready."

"Of course captain, I didn't mean to doubt you." He said simply.

Kotoe nodded, "Then relax for now. We'll leave at around a half hour, while there is still plenty of daylight so that we can cover a lot of ground. You know where to meet up." She finished, giving him a knowing look.

The man nodded, "Of course captain, I'll see you then." He replied with a short bow and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Kotoe sighed, "alright, let's make sure we have everything we need and-" she continued, opening the scroll and placing her hand on the center of a storage seal circle. In a puff of smoke, two masks appeared: one that had the appearance of a dove and the other a squirrel. "-this one is for you." She stated, handing me the squirrel mask.

I put it on but noted that Kotoe looked somewhat down. "Are you still thinking about the words Turtle spoke?"

She sighed before nodding, "He's right you know? Some people never come out of it the same and you'll be forced to do what you have to."

I looked at the woman, "But you've turned out alright haven't you?"

I bought I saw her flinch for a second, before she smiled somewhat ruefully, "Trust me, kid, I've got my own fair share of issues I have to work with."

I didn't push further and we lapsed into a momentary silence before my teacher picked herself up, "We have a mission to complete, and I unfortunately never had you experience taking something's life, but-" she paused, looking at me with a smile, "I'll be there for you when the time comes."

I looked at her with an impassive gaze, though inwardly I was glad. "…Thank you."

She waved me off, "Enough of this sappy crap-"

"….but you're the one who started it."

I was ignored.

"-we have a mission to complete so double check your supplies and we'll meet Turtle at the rendezvous position."

I nodded in agreement. Before looking and my palms. " _Can I take a life with these I wonder…"_ 90% of me, the part dominated by cold logic thanks to **Gamer's Mind** , didn't think much about taking a life. It was simply par of course in this world, and it was something I couldn't escape from. Life was meant to end one way or another regardless and I could always make it painless. I didn't have to like killing, I just had to be willing to do it, if not for anything other than to keep myself alive.

Then there was the 10% of my being that was controlled by emotions which told me that killing was wrong and immoral and that every life was precious. Who was I to decide who lived and who died? Why should I follow the conventions of this world simply because they were expected of me? I could be better and maybe I could even change this world for the better with my power.

" _Yeah right..."_ I thought about my 'emotions'. Unfortunately, I was selfish and wanted to live long. I wouldn't be able to do that if I followed my 'emotions' what I needed was logic dictating my actions in this world. Changing the world? No change came without blood and sacrifice anyway, so regardless I would eventually have to take a life. Humans were unique creatures; each individual with their own thoughts. If I even cared enough to change this world, then there would be people who would oppose me and saying a few nice words would not be enough at that point.

I hated the naive notion that you could change the world, especially one so ravaged by war, if you were nice to everyone around you and stopped killing. It was hilariously childish thinking; true change was fought for over the corpses of others, there was no way around that.

" _Plus, I don't really have the drive to try to change this world…"_ I thought blandly. There were only a few people I bothered to care about in this world and as long as they were fine and alive, then this place could burn for all I cared. I could blame my dampened emotions on my current thought process, but this was how I truly felt. I was a foreigner here from what my extremely foggy memories told me, and I just wasn't too attached to this place. Konoha was beautiful and great, don't get me wrong, but-

"Snap out of it kid." A voice said, shattering my thought process. I noted that Kotoe was gazing at me intently, "I really hope you aren't like that during the mission you know? That's a good way to get yourself killed."

" …I'll be fine, just thinking of some stuff."

The woman looked at me before stating seriously, "I trust that you will be. Now let's get this mission underway."

* * *

Turtle, Dove, and I hopped from branch to branch, each jump bringing us closer to our destination. Apparently, since ROOT ANBU were even more secretive than regular ones, we had some kind of secret exit that we used to go on our missions. It was there that we met up with Turtle and made our way out of the village towards our destination.

"I've already explained the mission parameters, however, I need to make sure we are on the same page." Dove started, her foot launching from a tree branch. "We are to rendezvous with the other teams already at Kusa and help them slow down the advance of Iwa long enough for Konoha's main force to arrive. We will use any and all means necessary to achieve victory, is that clear?"

"Yes Captain!" Turtle and I chorused, following behind our team leader.

She nodded at our answer, "Good. It will take us around a day to get to Kusa if we travel quickly enough including the 6-hour break we will take at around midnight. We'll continue at daybreak but before then keep your eyes peeled along the way and don't get distracted."

Turtle and I nodded in agreement while continuing to follow the woman. My gaze held the same impassiveness that it always did as I noted the thin beams of light peeking through the densely covered forest ceiling. Kusagakure was located around 900 Miles (1448 Kilometers) Northwest of Konoha and acted like a buffer between Fire country and Rock country. The main reason it was being targeted was that it was the only direction that Rock country could attack us from efficiently. They would have to take long detours and pass through several of Fire Country's natural defenses if they wanted to attack us from other angles, but they would still come into contact with other nations who wouldn't take kindly to trespassing shinobi.

If Iwa tried to force their way through the other buffer nations, then Konoha could use that to their advantage and create more allies by extending aid and in that way Iwa would become at a disadvantage. As long as we were powerful enough in driving them from Kusa, then the first phase of this war would be in our favor.

I was catapulted from my thoughts when I saw my teacher raise her right hand in a fist, "We'll stop here for now, since it's already late, and set up camp. We've made plenty of progress so we should be able to make it to our destination soon after we finish resting."

Turtle and I showed our agreement and started setting up camp. " _Storage seals sure are convenient_ …" I thought as I 'poofed' a small tent into existence. As long as you had a great fuinjutsu Master make them, these things would be able to store gigantic amounts of materials.

Luckily, Minato and Kushina got the bill.

"I'll take first watch." Turtle began, looking at Dove, "You've been pushing yourself the entire way, no doubt utilizing your chakra sensing capabilities to their fullest. You should rest."

Dove seemed to want to protest, however, I decided to step in, "…No, I'll take first watch."

I could almost hear their heads whip towards me, before Turtle asked speculatively, "Are you sure? This should be your first time traveling such long distances continuously. I was actually surprised you were able to keep up so far, but you need to rest Squirrel. Don't push yourself too far."

His reasoning was sound and worries well-founded, however, I shook my head and replied calmly, "It's fine. I'm an insomniac."

"What?" Dove asked with a harsh whisper.

"…I should have explained that better." I stated simply before shaking my head. "Insomniac isn't really the correct term actually, I can sleep just fine if I want to, however, my body doesn't require sleep to function properly. I believe it is another part of my Bloodline limit."

At this, even Turtle seemed intrigued, "Not needing sleep but being able to get it whenever you want? You have no idea how many shinobi would be happy with something like that and it's only part of your bloodline?" He looked at Dove, "Am I missing something here? I thought we had already told each other of our capabilities and specialties?"

"I thought so as well." Dove replied before looking at me, "When were you planning on telling me this?" Kotoe asked.

I felt slightly bad when I sensed the underlying unhappiness in her tone, so I quickly replied, "…It's not that I didn't want to tell you, but I thought that it just wasn't important enough for you to know."

Kotoe took off her mask, looking at me with a sigh, "To you, it might not have been important, but if your body really didn't need sleep in order to function, then I could have trained you more and gotten you sufficiently prepared."

By this time, seeing the atmosphere between Kotoe and me, Turtle had decided to retreat to his tent area and focus on setting up.

I looked at my teacher, but shook my head, "My body may not need sleep, but yours does. I didn't want to push you into doing more than you already had been doing."

"That's sweet of you kiddo." She started, "but there is no harm in asking if you are really worried about my well being. I can assure you that I won't die from a little less sleep." She gave me a smile before placing a hand on my shoulder, "I know that we all have our own secrets, but I wish that you wouldn't keep something like this from me in the future. I hope that there can be fewer secrets between us in the future. Anything else?"

I looked at the woman in the eyes, debating whether or not I should tell her about anything else I could do, but I trusted her enough, "there is another thing…"

Kotoe looked at me with narrowed eyes before flipping through a few hand seals. I could feel her release a pulse of chakra before she looked at me, "A small genjutsu so that no one can hear us and all they'll see if us two talking to each other. Just in case."

I nodded in appreciation before taking out a scroll. I saw one of Kotoe's brow raise when she saw my take out the **Shadow Clone Jutsu** scroll.

 **Would you like to learn [Shadow Clone Jutsu]?**

 **Y/N**

I took pleasure in seeing her eyes widen in surprise when I clicked **Y** and the scroll transformed into motes of light before flowing into my forehead.

 **Congratulations, you have learned [Shadow Clone Jutsu]**

 **Shadow Clone Jutsu (Active) Lvl 1 [00.00%]**

 **The Shadow Clone Jutsu allows you to create a physical copy of yourself with Chakra. Your chakra is divided evenly between each clone you create, however it should be noted that creating too many can be dangerous to you. Each level of this skill will increase the total number of clones you can summon.**

 **Maximum # of clones: 1**

"What…?" Kotoe asked, mouth gaping.

"I can 'absorb' the information from technique books/scrolls allowing me to learn any technique as long as it is well written and explained. The only issue is that the scroll/book disappear after I do so and I only gain elementary proficiency in the technique that I learn."

True to being a capable shinobi, Kotoe eventually schooled her features before looking up at the night sky and rubbing her temples, "…I don't even know what to say, but I know that you are causing me a headache." She suddenly stopped before whipping her head towards me, "Wait! Is this how you learned those other techniques so quickly?"

"…Maybe."

She grit her teeth, "I had thought that you were just a stupidly amazing genius, but now I know that y-you're just a cheat!"

"Jealousy is unbecoming of you sensei."

The woman in question took a deep breath before looking me straight in the eyes and asking me carefully, "…I get the feeling that I will regret asking, but is there anything else that you want to tell me?"

I looked at her for a while and she quickly continued, "Y-You know what? It's best if you simply don't, after all as shinobi we have to keep our sec-"

"I do have another thing I don't mind showing you. Just give me a second." I said, cutting her off and scanning the surroundings. To be honest I wasn't afraid of her telling Danzo or even the Hokage about some of my more unique abilities since in this world pretty much all strange things could be written off as some weird Kekkei Genkai. Hashirama had the ability to make all 9 Bijuu his bitch using _plants_ and no one questioned that shit.

As a matter of fact, people barely even questioned the existence of Bijuu, simply seeing them as masses of sentient chakra or malevolent energy, yet barely even wondering how they were created. They just took 100+ feet tall behemoths in stride, my abilities could only be classified as _moderately_ strange in comparison. Let's not even get started about how the Uchiha could manifest a gigantic humanoid energy construct from their eyes.

That shit made no sense.

And neither did my abilities.

However, if there was anything I wasn't willing to do, it would be giving her, or anyone, knowledge about what my ability truly was. That was a secret I would take with me to the grave.

I was broken from my musings when I heard a light sound of movement coming from the grass to the right of me. I reacted almost instantaneously; drawing a kunai from my pouch and launching it at the creature.

I was rewarded with the sound of metal sinking in flesh and the death cries of the innocent animal I had just killed. I walked up to it, Kotoe gazing at me intently, before I picked it up and brought it back.

 **Rabbit**

 **HP: 0/100**

 **Would you like to loot the enemy and allow only the necessary drops to remain?**

 **Y/N**

I looked my teacher in the eye and clicked yes. I enjoyed the look on her face as the rabbit disappeared into motes of light which traveled to the ground, leaving me with prime slabs of meat and a perfectly skinned hide.

"My ability also allows me to collect the essential resources from dead creatures. I am under the assumption that the useless parts, that my ability doesn't collect, go into the ground and become fertilizer or something; judging by the fact that the lights disappear underground."

Not hearing a reply, I looked at my teacher worriedly, "umm Teacher?"

"…do you understand how indispensable this ability of yours is? How do these skills even relate to your kekkei Genkai? I had thought that your bloodline had to do with your physical body's ability to rapidly adapt to any and all stimuli placed on it, but how does this coincide with that at all?"

"…Teacher."

"I mean sure, if we force it, we can assume that your body is allowing you to adapt quickly by allowing you to absorb information through books or scroll. And _maybe_ it is adapting to its surroundings by removing the need to manually procure and skin animals, but they just don't make sense?!"

"…Teacher."

"Kekkei Genkai manifest in a single ability. The First has the _Wood Release_ , the Uchiha have the _Sharingan_ , and the Uzumaki have their longevity and chakra chains, but them having two abilities as part of their bloodline actually makes sense."

"…Master."

"I mean they have such large amounts of chakra and it is so dense that them manifesting chains made out of the stuff is actually logical. I mean have you ever _felt_ Kushina's chakra? I have to fight the urge to run from her everytime I get close, she just has _too_ much."

"….Mom."

That got her attention.

She narrowed her eyes at me and flicked my head.

 **-10**

"...Ow."

She shook her head and composed her emotions professionally before looking at me, "There's a lot I want to talk to you about, but I already feel like this night has been long enough. I'll let you keep watch, but I want you to take a break eventually and allow Turtle to watch after you. You may not need sleep to function, but I don't want to take any chances. Are we clear?"

I nodded my head seriously before she continued, "Make sure to use your chakra sensing abilities as often as you can. You said that your range is around 650 meters correct?"

I nodded my head to which she explained, "It's a short distance for a seasoned shinobi and can be covered in seconds, however, that should be enough time for you to alert us. If you catch any suspicious movement, do not hesitate to warn us."

"I understand. I would not take a risk with our lives."

"Good." She started before getting up, "I'll let Turtle know of our plan. For now, keep your eyes peeled…and save that rabbit meat for tomorrow."

I smiled at the last point before Kotoe made a hand seal, pulsing her chakra and removing the genjutsu, before she walked away. I sighed before plopping on the ground and taking a meditative position before my mind went through a lot of information.

Almost 2 years.

My first mission.

I would most likely have to take a life.

My brows crinkled and I shook my head from those thoughts before I focused on something more productive. I brought my attention to my station to see how much it had improved and to note what I would need to work on.

' _Status'_

 **Name: Yorudan  
Race: Human?  
Level: Lvl 40 Next Level: 1,250/82,100**

 **HP: 18195/18195 Regen: (318.41 per min)**

 **CP:** **37537/37537** **Regen: (732.00 per min)**

 **CC: 95%**

 **STR: 172.9  
VIT: 195.7  
DEX: 136.8  
INT: 200.1  
WIS: 190.9**

 **ENGY: 384**

 **Points: 292**

 **Ryo: 1000**

" _It's grown a lot…"_ I thought as I gazed at the hovering screen. The bonuses I had received from the core had been added to my base attributes further increasing them with my skill bonuses. I had asked Kotoe earlier about these increases, but of course getting easy stats was impossible.

She had explained to me that chakra cores were _very_ rare and that even if you killed a beast that was a century old, it was not guaranteed that you would even get one. Furthermore, these things were obviously highly sought after and _stupidly_ expensive, so people usually kept these things to themselves whenever they were found. I would be lucky to find another one in the next decade or so, apparently.

I sighed and shook my head " _Nothing worth getting is ever easy…"_ I then focused my attention on my chakra control and narrowed my eyes. Obviously, after training with Kotoe for a while, I had learned and practiced the **Water Walking** technique alongside perfecting the **Tree** **Climbing** and **Leaf Concentration** exercises.

 **Water Walking (Active/Passive) Lvl 25 MAX**

 **Water walking is a more advanced chakra control exercise and by expelling chakra from your feet to repel the watery surface, you are able to stand firmly upon it.**

 **Increases CC by 25%**

 **Uses: 35 CP per min**

 **Tree Climbing (Active/Passive) Lvl 25 MAX**

 **Tree Climbing uses your chakra to stick to surfaces you can now move more freely and better use your chakra.**

 **Increases CC by 25%**

 **Uses: 25 CP per min**

 **Leaf Concentration Practice (Active/Passive) Lvl 25 MAX**

 **The Leaf Concentration Technique is an introductory chakra control exercise taught to all academy students. This training method is done by placing a leaf over your forehead and directing your chakra onto the leaf, using it as a focal point. Every level, a new leaf can be added. This technique helps hone your concentration.**

 **Increases CC by 25%**

 **Uses: 15 CP per min**

Combined, I had gained a 75% increase in my chakra control and adding that to my base **CC** of 20%, I now had 95% **CC**. I had asked Kotoe if there were any ways to further increase my control, but she had only looked at me strangely and replied.

" _To be honest Yoru, your control is by far the most perfect I have ever felt. The way your chakra fluidly obeys your command as it flows through you and the speed at which you can cast your jutsu….I had the pleasure of watching Lady Tsunade as she worked once and your chakra control is just as great, if not better, than her own. It's_ perfect _."_

"However the problem is that it isn't." I said to myself as I recalled that memory. They couldn't see a numerical value of their chakra as I could and I was pretty sure that my other half wasn't just messing with me, so that had to mean that my control wasn't truly _perfect_. The issue was that I could train no further in the other techniques which left me wondering how else I could improve my **CC** to perfection.

What would happen once I did?

I had a theory that to pretty much all shinobi, individuals who had a **CC** of **90%** or greater would be classified as having 'perfect control' and this was only due to the fact that no one here could actually quantify how _perfect_ their control was.

But I could.

However, that left the question, " _How can I actually perfect my control to 100%?"_

My brows knitted in thought. " _My_ _ **CC**_ _is at 95%...where is the other 5% going to come from?"_

I activated my meditation skill as I crossed my legs. I made sure to set my **Chakra Sonar** skill so that it would automatically pulse every 0.5 seconds before focusing on myself. " _5%..."_

" _Why is there only 5% left?"_

" _Where does it come from?"_

" _How do I train now?"_

My brain calculated numerous possibilities and drew from the knowledge that I had on chakra theory. When I had gained **Eidetic Memory** from getting 50 in **INT** , I had been able to recall all the information that I had studied that I hadn't been able to before. That included the information I gained from the books Kotoe had me study and the more advanced ones she had gotten me after.

" _5%...5…..5….5….why 5? What can I do with the chakra that would give me 5% more control to perfection? Wait, what are the other aspects of chakra? Physical and Spiritual energy….created from cells….but what is an aspect of chakra that could give me 5%."_

I felt my brain turn, but I calmed down and rationalized, using my **Hyperfocus** skill to its maximum capability.

 **Hyperfocus (Active) Level 2 [64.57%]**

 **can use it per day.**

 **USAGE: (2 per day)**

 **DURATION (65.48 minutes)**

A fact I found was that Hyperfocus didn't apply to just skills as well, but also my thoughts. I could **Hyperfocus** on a singular thought in my mind and to the point where it consumed my other thought processes.

" _5….5 aspects of chakra….Wait….Wait! 5 elements! Chakra is divided into_ _ **5**_ _main elements. What if….What if I need to perfect my control over the main aspects of my chakra in order to gain absolute_ _ **perfect**_ _control!"_

 **For figuring out how you can further improve your Chakra Control past normal standards, you have gained +10 INT and +10 WIS.**

My eyes shot open and I breathed out a sigh. This had been bugging me for a long time, but considering I had always been either training or sleeping, or just focusing on other things, I had never had the time to sit down and think about it like now since there was rarely a time where I could just be by myself and relax. Besides, it hadn't been on my mind until recently.

I stood up and decided to keep my focus, though I was slightly distracted as I contemplated my discovery. Mastering control over all the elements wouldn't be hard, however, it would be insanely time consuming, but hopefully, the gains would be well worth it. I truly wondered what having full 100% control over my chakra entailed, after all, chakra was just another form of energy so maybe I would be able to shoot techniques around easier.

" _But the time..."_ it had taken me a year to increase my **Natural Lightning Affinity** to **25%** and my **Natural Water Affinity** was only at **20%**. If I wanted to train in even _more_ affinities, it would take me years before I could perfect them to a full **100%**.

Thankfully the answer to my problem was in my hands.

" _Shadow Clone Jutsu."_ I thought, and with a single hand seal, a copy of me appeared. We looked at each other, both of our gazes impassive.

"so you're my clone…"

"I guess so…"

"..."

"..."

"How does it feel to understand that your existence is just a construct of energy that can be controlled and ended by the will of some other being?"

My clone paused, before replying. "...to be honest, Because of that, I fear neither death nor pain because any small amount of it would probably kill me anyway. I have to say that not having to worry about things such as life, death, hunger, thirst...it's all kind of _freeing_. I don't have to worry about anything that isn't related to the reason I was brought to being."

"Hmm, interesting."

We continued to look at each other before I asked, "And what if I simply had no objective in creating you? What if I just asked you to live your life however you wanted."

The copy of me shrugged, "I suppose I would do whatever you would do until I got bored and dispelled myself."

I sighed, "That's actually quite…enviable."

Since he was me, I could tell that he was smiling under his mask. I put it on the back on my mind to work on that eye smile that Kakashi hadn't shown yet. Somehow could remember that future Kakashi had an eye smile, yet I couldn't remember anything important. I couldn't even remember the circumstances surrounding Naruto's birth…wait would he even still be born?

Ohh well.

I looked back at my clone and said simply, "I'm going to practice this technique so I'll have to dispel you. There's a lot about this technique that I want to test out in the future like-"

"-if you can get **EXP** from clones and if so now much."

I smirked, "I like talking to myself."

"….That's sad."

"No one asked you."

"No, but I _am you."_

"..."

"..."

"...Just dispel already."

I swear he looked smug before he burst into smoke and disappeared.

I was definitely too smart for my own good.

* * *

 **Before I get PM's from people I need to make this clear. There is actually a difference between the [Shadow Clone Jutsu] and the [** _ **Multiple**_ **Shadow Clone Jutsu]. The first one is a Jounin Level technique that any shinobi with large enough reserves can learn which splits your chakra into only a few clones, but with proficiency, the amount you can produce will increase. The second one is actually a Forbidden Technique which forcefully spits your chakra into hundreds up to thousands of copies. This is the one that Naruto learned in the series and is the one found is in the forbidden scroll.**

 **Also, no Yoru will never tell anyone about his Gamer abilities. I'll never understand stories that go down that route, but I believe that is the epitome of stupidity. Seriously, who in their right mind would actually tell other people about such a broken ability? Don't even get my started on how ridiculous a party system is. That crap is so irritating.**


	6. Chapter 6

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

After practicing with my shadow clone technique for hours while simultaneously keeping my **Chakra Sonar** skill on, I had eventually let Turtle take over for me and had gotten some sleep. Around three hours later, I was woken by the man with Dove already awake and ready. The rest of the journey to Kusa was relatively peaceful, but we all had been careful and vigilant the entire way there.

My thoughts were disrupted as we slowed down and eventually stopped.

"We're here." Dove stated as we arrived near the entrance of the village. I gazed at it impassively and appreciated the look and structure of the visible areas of the village. Kusagakure no Sato was surrounded by rich vegetation all around giving it an 'earthy' feel somewhat similar to Konoha.

"Halt!" A shout echoed out, causing us to focus forward. A man came forward wearing a headband with a symbol that looked like three blades of grass curved in the same direction. He looked at us seriously, "Please state your business here."

Dove inclined her head, "We are Konoha shinobi Who have come to aid Kusagakure in repelling the invading forces of Iwa." She slowly took out the mission statement scroll from her pouch and presented it to the man, "This is proof of our statement."

The man gave it a cautious look before walking up and slowly taking it. He created some distance and carefully opened the scroll and scanned through the contents. After a while he put down the scroll and looked at us with a smile, sighing in relief, "The Hokage's seal is authentic. I apologize for earlier, but we can never be too careful especially in these times."

"That would explain the 20 other chakra signatures surrounding us." Dove said simply.

" _20…that's dangerous."_ I thought.

The man's smirk remained on his face before he made a few hand signals, probably to his hidden companions, before welcoming us inside, "Welcome to Kusa, I would tell you that you'll enjoy your stay, but I try not to lie to my allies."

Dove looked at him with humor in her tone, "We'll try to make do with the circumstances."

We moved through the village quickly, keeping pace with the Kusa ninja, before he stopped in front of a decent looking, large, multi-story complex. "This is where you'll be staying when you aren't in the front lines, courtesy of Kusa. The top two floors are empty so you can lounge there is you like." He then turned to face us, "The other Konoha shinobi should be back soon you can rendezvous with them here." He then smiled before bowing quickly, "Kusa extends its sincere thanks for your aid." With that, the man disappeared in a swirl of…grass. Huh.

Neat.

"Alright, keep your guard up while we are here, Iwa can attack at any moment, so we need to be prepared. I'll convene with the captains of the other groups when they arrive and exchange information with them. In the meantime, you two can scout the area and restock any supplies we might need and come back here after you're done. Dismissed."

Turtle and I nodded in response and casually picked a room after we entered the building. Afterward, we made our way out and separated in order to observe the landscape. The tension in the village was thick and easily noticeable; people were moving around cautiously making sure to stay on the sides of the road, while some others were shifty-eyed and scanning each corner for danger.

There also weren't many people out and about to begin with even though it was still early in the morning. I kept my gaze stoic as I gazed upon those peoples fast shuffling forms and shook my head. Most of them were just simple people with honest lives and families to take care of, but that didn't stop them from being inflicted from the effects of the war.

I took a breath before going through a single hand sign creating a puff of smoke beside me. My little show brought me little more than a fleeting glance from the pedestrians who ignored me soon after.

My 4 clones nodded went off to Scout the perimeter and obtain any information about Kusa's defensive capabilities. With that, I continued to stroll down the street with an impassive gaze.

* * *

"So we're all here." A giant of a man spoke, his figure imposing and his arms crossed. He wore the standard Anbu outfit, complete with the spiral tattoo on his shoulder. The top of his head was covered with short, spiky, orange hair and on his face was a mask depicting a Boar.

We were all currently located in the first-floor living room of the building that Kusa had allowed us to lounge in. Right before the two other Konoha shinobi groups had arrived, Dove had sent a clone to come get me, knowing that I was on the other side of town. She could sense and recognize chakra signatures anywhere in a 20 Kilometer (12.42 Mile) radius according to what she told me.

Being such a good sensor sure was convenient.

"It appears so. The third group has finally arrived." A female voice sounded out as a blonde haired woman looked at us. She wore the same standard uniform and tattoo, but this time her mask was that of a Wolf. The only reason I could tell that it was a wolf and not a dog on that mask was that I looked at her status. She and Boar were quite powerful to say the least.

Dove nodded, "We took a longer route to make our way here and faced no issues."

Wolf nodded after scanning us, but I could swear she looked at me a second longer, before she returned her gaze towards Dove, "And, is your team _prepared_?"

Why did I feel like that was about me?

Dove's voice turned hard, "We were personally chosen by Lord Danzo. If you have any concerns about our ability, please bring it up with him."

Boar watched them for a moment before shaking his head in disapproval, "Enough. We have more important things to worry about; Iwa has become more aggressive in their movements bringing in slightly higher level ninjas each time they fail their invasion. We need to find a way to push them back long enough for our main reinforcements to arrive."

"My team has two sensors: Squirrel and I. Turtle can be useful in reconnaissance due to his great natural speed in conjunction with his **Swift Release**. We can scout out invasion points Iwa might use and give reports of the number and strength of their shinobi." Dove explained.

Was I the only one bothered by the fact that Turtle was our fastest shinobi?

"This works out perfectly." Boar said pleased. "My team is more focused on Attack and Defense while Wolf's team excels in stealth and espionage. Having your team, however, will allow us to more safely scout out the opposition helping us reduce casualties."

Wolf nodded in agreement. "We can communicate this to the Kusa shinobi so that they can allow us to cover more ground. So far we have been splitting up our efforts on watching the border with Kusa watching over the majority of their border with Iwa."

Turtle put on a thoughtful expression before he suddenly asked, "Would it not be better to work with the Kusa nin in defending parts of their border instead of splitting the workload between us? I'm sure that they are more familiar with the layout of the land that we can ever be in the short time we've been stationed here."

Wolf sighed lightly, "Usually that would be true, especially when we have such small squad numbers but unfortunately, even though Konoha and Kusagakure are our allies our ninjas simply operate too differently. Over time we will be able to synchronize our efforts especially when reinforcements arrive, but for now, splitting up our workload is more beneficial."

Turtle nodded his head in understanding before Boar spoke up. "Any other questions? It's best for us to be on the same page." Seeing that no one else spoke up, Boar continued, "Alright let's plan out our next course of action."

The meeting delved into an information exchange where the shinobi all communicated their experience and difficulties and how to maximize their results. I was forced to take in all this information and commit it to memory not because I _had_ to, but because **Eidetic Memory** didn't allow me to forget _anything_ that I picked up.

Eventually, the meeting was concluded and Boar stated, "Let's stay vigilant and start our plan when the sun starts to set; around the time that Iwa is most likely to attack. Any objections?"

Seeing no one spoke up, the man nodded, "Then, make sure to keep yourselves alive." With that, he and his team disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Wolf looked at us and soon left as well with her team in tow.

"Alright let's move out." Dove started, standing up from her position before looking at Turtle and me, "Make sure you use a clone when you are doing your reconnaissance Turtle. If it is spotted, then make sure you have it run away and hide instead of immediately dispelling in order to lead the enemies. We want them to believe that your clone is you; increasing the likelihood that they will move to capture you. If they figure out that you are a clone beforehand, they'll be more on guard since they'll figure that their position has been compromised."

"Of course captain. Leave it to me." Turtle said earnestly.

Dove inclined her head before looking at me, "And Squirrel, don't stray too far from me. With your reserves, you should be able to make a good amount of shadow clones correct?"

I nodded in agreement, "As of now I can create around 4 clones, but I'll need more practice to increase that number. I learned the technique quite recently after all."

Turtle whistles at me in appreciation, "You're able to safely create shadow clones at your age? You must have some serious reserves kid."

"…They're alright." I replied

"4 is good enough for now." Dove said, getting us back on track, "What I need you to do is send your clones in pairs. We can use the fact that your sensory skills may alert the enemy to our advantage. If you sense the enemy and they start to shift their position towards you, you can have one of the clone pairs dispel and give you the information while the other clone pair can lead them away. Most Iwa shinobi are stubborn and such blatant flaring of your chakra will most likely provoke them into attacking you."

It was a pretty interesting plan but I showed some doubts, "Even if they are stubborn, they are still seasoned shinobi. I doubt this plan will work on them every time if at all since it is quite obvious."

"It doesn't have to, we mainly need to stall them so if they become too cautious to attack, then it works in our favor. If they become provoked into attacking, well you can just lead them around until they either get tired or fall into a trap. Either way, it benefits us."

Huh. "…Were you always so smart?"

Kotoe promptly flicked me in the head.

Worse, Turtle dared to snicker at me.

"Alright let's move out." Dove said before she stood up, us following her movements before we all activated shunshin and disappeared from our area.

* * *

Day turned to night as the sun rose from the East and set in the West. Dove, Turtle, and I were in the forested areas of the northern part of Kusa which served as the 'barrier' between the Land of Rock and Kusa. The terrain here was actually kind of weird due to the fact that the land was _very_ rocky, yet the soil could support such large vegetation.

"Your clones haven't picked up anything yet?" Dove asked beside me.

I shook my head in the negative. "None of them have dispelled so I can only assume they haven't made contact with the enemy yet."

Dove nodded, "Very well, but stay on your guard."

We moved silently through the rocky forest, making sure to keep low and mask our movements. In but a few moments, we were half a kilometer from our previous position before Turtle suddenly tensed up sharply.

"My clone came into contact with a group of rock shinobi: 8 members, 6 of which acted subordinate to the last 2. He was able to lure them towards us before losing them and dispelling." Turtle looked forward before turning his head slightly to the right, "They are approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) to our Northeast and should be heading in our direction."

Dove took to the trees and we followed. "It might be 2 different 3 man squads lead by Jonin commanders. I'll keep a lookout for any foreign signatures, but be on your guard just in case."

There was no argument as we followed the instructions of our leader. We moved silently towards our Northeast direction for around 10 seconds before Dove perked up, "They've entered my range of detection: 5 Chunin Level chakra signatures, 1 around Tokubetsu Jonin Level and 2 Jonin levels." She quickly created a clone which she dispelled soon after, "My clones with the other two groups should be alerted to our situation. All we need to do is stall for time and distract them: I'll handle the Jonin, Turtle use their anger at you to draw out as many of the Chunin as you can and Squirrel, I'm sure you can handle the rest."

I nodded seriously and continued following my leader at high speeds, however, it only took less than 30 seconds before we met up with the opposition coming in our direction.

"They're here." Dove said silently, signaling us to stay up in the trees.

Coincidentally, the rock shinobi stopped their movements as well before one of them, a guy around 15, sneered, "All those fucking tree huggers are the same; as soon as they see us they run and hide like insects."

His compatriots agreed before one of the larger individuals, probably one of the two Jonin leaders, spoke up, "It's true that they are slippery, but you have to admit that they at least stick to what they are good at." His eyes turned sharply towards our direction in the foliage, "Hugging trees."

At his epithet, all 8 enemy shinobi, in a fluid motion, drew their kunai and launched them towards us. All three of us dispersed causing the kunai to either hit bark or fly through the tree leaves.

Dove launched sharp needle projectiles at the two Jonin in a bid to catch their attention. They were most likely coated in poison like the ones she had used to kidnap me almost two years ago.

No. I wasn't still sour about that.

It worked as one one of the senbon grazed the shoulder of the previously trash talking Jonin, his kunai failing to deflect the numerous projectiles. His face twisted in agony at the fast working poison and he cried out in slight pain. "You fucking bitch!" He roared as he charged into the foliage.

His Jonin comrade, a woman with black hair, barked out a few orders, "There shouldn't be many of them so stick together and take them out!" She yelled before following her brash companion.

I had quickly scanned all their levels beforehand so I knew that, when Turtle had suddenly sped out and blown away one of the remaining 6 rock shinobi, that he had attacked the one who had Tokubetsu Jonin levels of chakra.

The man impacted the trees as astonishing velocity, breaking through a few of them and causing splinters to fly. The rest of the Iwa shinobi froze for a moment at Turtles sudden appearance before they snarled.

"Why you…"

"Enough." A voice sounded out causing the rock ninja to stop and turn his gaze towards the fallen trees. The Tokubetsu Jonin threw away one of the tree trunks on top of him and dusted himself off. His clothes were slightly tattered but otherwise, he looked perfectly fine from the attack. "Your love tap can't even break through my **Rock Skin**." He said as he turned towards Turtle.

He looked at my direction before sneering and stating to his comrades, "3 of you help me tie down that slippery bastard, the last two of you should be able to take care of the kid." He then dashed towards the now retreating Turtle with his comrades in tow.

That now left me with two rock shinobi, interestingly enough, one of them was the kid who had insulted us earlier. The other one was a female with dark brown hair who looked to be around 16 or so.

* * *

 ** **[Rock Shinobi 1 (M)]****

 **Level 43**

 **HP: 20000/20000**

 **CP: 7500/7500**

 **His name is irrelevant; all you need to know is that he wants to kill you**

* * *

 ** **[Rock Shinobi 2 (F)]****

 **Level 40**

 **HP: 15000/15000**

 **CP: 9000/9000**

 **Her name is irrelevant; all you need to know is that she wants to capture or kill you.**

* * *

As I finished scanning the rest of their stats, the black haired boy turned his gaze towards my direction before he suddenly looked startled. I guess he had never actually noticed me before as his eyes widened in surprise before he started laughing.

"HAHA! Ohh this is rich! Are those fucking tree huggers so pathetic that they have to send a kid to a battlefield?! And a Squirrel?!" He sneered before looking at me mockingly, "Listen kid, I'll do you a solid and make your death painless, courtesy of the Rock."

I looked at him strangely, though I doubt he could see my expression under my mask. "…was that supposed to be a bad pun?"

He looked confused before the girl next to him widened her eyes in realization, "Ohh I get it, Rock Solid!"

The boy looked irritated before he snarled, "You know what?! Now I'm going to make your death excruciating!"

"….But I actually thought it was kinda funny."

He didn't seem to think so.

With a cry of outrage, he dashed towards me to which I hurriedly unfurled two shuriken from my pouch and threw them towards him, however, I raised a brow when they simply bounced off his skin. The only reply I got in return was a sneer as he used his long reach to his advantage, rocketing a fist towards my masked visage.

I ducked under his swing and, while grabbing his outstretched arm, used his momentum to throw him over my shoulder. He flipped in mid-air and landed softly on the ground, however my **Danger** **Detection** suddenly went off causing me to jump straight into the air narrowly avoiding the earth spikes that had emerged from my previous position.

I turned my head and noted that the girl's hand position was fixed in a hand seal before she looked at me seriously, "Don't underestimate the kid, regardless of our feelings about the Leaf, they're not stupid enough to send someone weak to the front lines. He must be really skilled as a shinobi for his age."

The guy frowned before he grinned sinisterly at my direction, "Killing someone so young but talented from the Leaf-" he smacked his lips, "There's nothing more pleasurable!" He screamed as he lunged at my direction.

Instead of moving backward, however, I went forward to confront him with more shuriken in hand. I threw them at him, but of course, they only bounced off his skin. His natural reflex however, had been to close his eyes for a single moment which was all I needed for my plan.

I had thrown the shuriken knowing that they would bounce on his defensive technique and with that in mind, I used it to my advantage. One of the shuriken ricocheted off of him and towards his partner causing her eyes widened at the incoming projectile. She quickly reacted and ducked under the unexpected attack causing it to impact the tree behind her.

The girl looked at me in trepidation, focusing on my every move, however not before I had used their momentary distraction to carefully seep my chakra into his and his partner's system.

 **Illusion Mastery (Active) Level 75 [56.76%]**

 **Illusion Mastery embodies the level of achievement you have in casting illusions. Each level increases the of your illusions affecting your opponents.**

 **75% chance of illusion success**

 **-1% per level your opponent exceeds you by**

Due to my amazing chakra control, when I had begun studying Genjutsu I had improved very quickly at the art. Kotoe also made it mandatory for me to learn some medical ninjutsu, but there were just so many things that I had to study which made it nearly impossible for me to dedicate much time for the art at all. Nevertheless, I decided to focus on the matter at hand.

" _This must be the_ _ **Rock Skin**_ … _Dove's needles must have been coated in chakra for them to puncture the Jonin…but this still works fine."_ I thought idly, ducking under one of his blows and making sure to keep track of his female companion movements.

"Why. Won't. You. Stay. still!" The guy yelled, yet his movements never faltered and he kept his attacks sharp and precise.

"…I like living." " _Not as hot-headed as he seems…the girl seems to play mid-range support."_ I made sure to use my **Eidetic Memory** to my advantage by memorizing their movements in order to exploit any weakness in them.

We continued this game of cat and mouse where the guy would rush me, utilizing his greater build and defense to his advantage, while his partner would support him from behind. The battlefield was littered with all the shuriken that I had thrown at the boy, all of which failed to penetrate his skin. Our movements where immensely quick and the entire battle had consisted of hundreds of exchanges in no more than a few minutes.

The guy looked around at the battlefield, no doubt taking note of my failed attempts at harming him, before he mocked with a sigh, "Look kid, if all you can do is run around and attack me with those scrap pieces of metal, then you might as well give up and drop dead now. It'll be less painful."

I looked at him apathetically, "I don't have to beat you, I just keep you here for now."

The man's eyes widened before he chuckled and soon those chuckles turned into full-blown laughter. The girl next to him looked at me with thick amusement in her visage, "You think you Leaf Nin are the only ones capable of using diversion tactics?"

My eyes widened, not from _her_ information, but the one I had received from one of my 2 clone pairs. There was a group of shinobi currently located far outside Kotoe's range that was heading for us at high speeds. 2, 3 man squads of high chunin to Jonin level fighters with a Tokubetsu Jonin who didn't seem to be part of their squads. Judging by their trajectory, they would probably make contact with our reinforcements before they made it here.

The Konoha shinobi here had split guarding the Kusa border with their ninja: Konoha focused on around 200 km (124 miles) of the eastern part of Kusa's Iwa/Kusa border while their ninjas focused on the remaining 950 km (590 miles). We obviously overlapped in certain areas of our patrol, however, Dove has already notified us that there hadn't been any Kusa ninja in our 20 km vicinity, only us Konoha-nin.

I looked at the two still smirking ninja and commented "…You had another ninja with you, but they probably splintered off far before Turtle made contact. They somehow knew he was coming and left to notify another group of your shinobi." My eyes narrowed slightly, "A sensor."

The Iwa pair stopped smiling before the boy looked at me seriously, "I'm not sure how you got that information, but sometimes knowing too much isn't a good thing kid."

"In war, I'd beg to differ."

"Cheeky fucker!" The guy yelled with a grin before he rushed towards me with his larger build. "Let's see how you talk with your throat ripped out!"

I leaped into the air before tossing more shuriken at my charging adversary, but he knocked them away in annoyance. "I've said it before but if that's all you can do then just drop dead already!"

He leaped after me, as I landed on the top of a tree branch before he lashed out with with a vicious kick. I could almost feel the air compressing from the force of the attack and I hurriedly ducked before I lost my head. The half of the tree above me was wrecked as it splintered into numerous pieces, however with me now under his outstretched leg, his weakness was exposed.

Every man's weakness.

"YOU BITCH!" He yelled as I smashed his family jewels causing him to fall off the tree and plummet to the ground. Rock skin or not, no man could take that hit without issue…unless they weren't a man.

"I'm going to enjoy torturing you!" He stayed harshly as he shakily picked himself off the ground with tears in his eyes.

"…All's fair in love and war…and this is war."

He didn't seem to agree.

"ARRG!" He yelled as he charged at me like an enraged bull, but before I could move to escape, the landscape behind me changed as a huge wall of rocks blocked my path.

"There's nowhere to run little bastard!" My opponent yelled as his female partner stood behind him, looking at me seriously with a hand seal in place. I could see the manic grin of assurance on the boy's face as he edged closer to me, intent on causing me harm, however-

" _It's about time I stopped running anyway…"_

From the beginning, I had been making sure to analyze their movements and personalities to increase my advantage. The boy seemed brash and easily angered, but he never actually made too many mistakes in his fight and seemed to have a decent head on his shoulders despite his personality.

The girl played support and seems to have a more analytical mind where she used her earth techniques to box off or manipulate her opponent's movements and cover for her teammate's weaknesses. I could more or less predict how they would react to certain actions and how they would move.

Which was why when the boy seemed about ready to secure his victory, his face couldn't help but twist in surprise as his movements suddenly halted. "W-what?"

"I can't move! something's wrapped around my body!" His partner behind him screamed in surprise.

The boy looked at me, flames nearly visible in his eyes, as he snarled. "What retarded tricks did you fucking use bitch!" The guy yelled as he tried to break the restraint on his body through sheer force.

I grunted slightly in exertion before I twitched my right index and ring finger. Suddenly, the guy's arms clamped straight to his sides, as his efforts went to waste, and he roared in fury, "Bastard!"

The woman behind him looked at me sweat dripping from her brows, as she stated, "I can't see any restraints on me…" her eyes suddenly widened, "Genjutsu!"

Her partner widened his eyes before he smirked in my direction, "You think this petty trick can hold _me!_ " He suddenly opened his mouth and bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, before smirking as clarity returned to him, the other Iwa ninja following suit.

However-

"What the fuck!" He screamed as he noted that he was still bound, but now he could _see_ the culprit that had been previously invisible to him. Wrapped around him and his partner was high quality, chakra conductive, black metal wire. "H-how? When?!"

"The shuriken!" His partner yelled as she looked at me in trepidation.

It was only then that he noticed that the field which had been littered with shuriken was now devoid of any and instead all the star-shaped projectiles were wrapped around him and his partner along with the wire.

"Y-you?!"

"…I would usually not bother to explain." I started, before looking at the trees beside me, "but I think I have enough time to humor you."

Ignoring his snarl, I continued while gazing at him lazily, "Every shuriken I had thrown at you was wrapped with high-quality ninja wire which was connected to me. I blocked you from seeing the wire with genjutsu and analyzed your movements so that I could trap you efficiently." I finished while bringing their attention to both my hands which was wrapped with wire, all of which connected to the ones that restricted their movements.

"This…can't….hold me!" He yelled as he tried to push his arms outwards to break my hold, yet I replied by slowly closing my right hand in a grip. His movements halted as both his arms and legs clamped together and he glared in my direction.

"While you are normally stronger than me." I started explaining. "With your current limited mobility, the amount of force you can exert has been lowered drastically. Give up, you've lost."

The man ceased his attempts but looked at me in disdain, "Even if we can't move, you won't be able to damage us either, not with those toothpicks. We're at a stalemate."

"Normally that would be true, however-"

I flipped through a few hand seals causing the two ninjas to move erratically at the motions of my fingers.

God, hand seals were inconvenient.

I completed my actions, relishing in their looks of surprise, "-Just because I haven't used ninjutsu, doesn't mean I can't. And-" I continued looking at them emotionlessly, "Lightning dominates Earth, and I'm sure that your **Rock Skin** technique is earth-based."

Before they could even voice out curses or pleas, I allowed my chakra to flow and vibrate before lightning appeared in both my hands. The electrical energy flowed through the metal wires, as they conducted the energy, and into the bodies of the two ninjas.

 **Critical!**

 **550% ENGY = 2112**

 **2112 + Damage Bonuses = 3505**

 **3505 x 2 =** **7010**

 **[Rock Shinobi 1 (M)]**

 **Level 43**

 **HP: 12990/20000**

* * *

 ** **Critical!****

 **550% ENGY = 2112**

 **2112 + Damage Bonuses = 3505**

 **3505 x 2 =** **7010**

 **[Rock Shinobi 2 (F)]**

 **Level 40**

 **HP: 7990/15000**

They screamed in agony as lightning literally coursed through their veins from my **Lightning Strike** , easily bypassing their earth-based armor. They dropped to the ground, electricity arcing from their downed forms and their bodies twitching, as they glared at me.

"You…bastard-"

"Not bad kid." A feminine voice sounded out as a woman with a wolf mask appeared next to me. "Not bad at all for your first time out."

My enemies looked at her in shock as the female Rock ninja called out, "Reinforcements? How?!"

The woman barely regarded her before she threw something she had been holding in her hand in front of them. It rolled to the ground and stared straight into their eyes.

A severed head.

"YOU BITCH!" The boy yelled, seeing the decapitated head of his comrade, yet Wolf didn't even pay attention to him.

"How long have you been watching?" I asked.

"Around the middle." Was her reply before she looked at my victims. "So? What do you plan on doing with them?"

Ignoring their heated glared, I replied blandly, "...No clue. They'll probably be useful for information or something."

"Like we would tell you Leaf fuckers shit!" He yelled before glaring straight at Wolf, "I swear if I get out of here, I'll make you my fucking bitch!" He suddenly chuckled madly looking at Wolf's masked visage, "It's true when they say that your mask is a representation of your true self. I bet you enjoy moaning like a dog in heat."

The brown haired Konoha ANBU didn't even react to his words as she looked at me, "You've never killed another person before correct?"

"….No."

She nodded before looking at the now slightly alarmed faces of the two Iwa ninja, "Then it's time you experience the more desolate aspects of shinobi life." Her gaze concentrated on the female before moving to the male, "My team has already captured one of the enemy shinobi, but we can use one of them to fact check the information they give us. We only need one, however so-" She looked back at me, "Kill the boy."

At this moment, the clouds parted allowing more light from the moon to shine upon the earth, granting me the ability to see the increasingly pale faces of the Land of Rock shinobi. The boy then looked at me before he sneered, "Come on kid what are you waiting for? Or are you so spineless that you can't deal the finishing blow huh?! Do it!"

I looked at Wolf who gazed at me through her mask, before returning my gaze towards the Iwa shinobi and pulling a kunai from my pouch. With quiet steps, I made my way towards him before looking at his downed form

The boy suddenly spit at my face, but I simply tilted my head and it flew past me. "Do your worst kid. If you even have the balls." He taunted.

My gaze never left his as my mind split over my decision. The 10% of my mind dominated by emotion was adverse to the idea of taking another human life. I could maybe convince Wolf to spare them for more information after all 3 was better than two right?

But the rest of me, the 90% of my being dictated by logic, knew that once way or another, I could not escape fromt taking a life.

"Wait don't-!" his female partner screamed

"Shut up!" the boy yelled before looking at me, "I would rather die a shinobi of my village than a traitor who sells out its secrets. Now stop hesitating you fucking twat!"

 _"As you wish."_ I thought before pulling out a kunai and running my lightning technique through it before plunging knife into his neck. The lightning easily made its way into his body and brain, killing him instantly, yet a smug grin was ever present on his face. I watched as the light left his eyes and his body slumped forward.

Dead.

 **Fatal!**

 **[Rock Shinobi 1 (M)]**

 **Level 43**

 **HP: 0/20000**

 **You have gained 4,300 EXP!**

I ignored the wail of sorrow of the Iwa Kunoichi as my brows furrowed. My knife-wielding arm shook so I took a breath and forced it to stop as **Gamer's Mind** kept my bubbling emotions stable. With that, I dropped the knife and gazed upon the first life I had taken, before my attention was brought back by the angry curses of his teammate. I looked to her, seeing her eyes red, "You killed Soru!"

" _So that was his name…_ " I thought before standing up and dusting myself. "And you would have done the same to me."

I could hear her grind her teeth before feeling her gaze bore into me as is trying to memorize every single detail on my body, "If I ever get out of here-" She started, her voice slightly hitching, "I promise I will kill you!"

I looked at her for a moment before turning my back and walking away, "All is fair in love and war...and unfortunately...this is war." I muttered quietly. I untwined the strings from around the fingers of both my hands and walked past Wolf, uncaring about her reaction, and dropped them to the ground. "She can't move much and you're the one who wants to take her in for interrogation. She's your responsibility now."

I couldn't tell if it was because she felt for me or because she simply didn't care, but regardless she didn't move to stop my departure so I hopped into the trees and made my way out of that area. I made 2 shadow clones and had them go towards the direction where Dove and Turtle had run towards. By using **Chakra Sonar** I would be able to easily let Dove know I was alright and not in distress, but my other clone would have to physically find Turtle and let him know.

With that done I continued to jump around the area, looking to see if I could aid my allies elsewhere. I had absolute confidence in my teacher's ability to stay alive not because of some misplaced faith, but because her stats were greater than those of the two enemy Jonin shinobi. As I traveled through the dense forest in the blanket of night, I thought about the Iwa Shinobi I had killed.

I didn't feel regret for what I had done, after all, this was war and they no doubt would have done the same thing. However, seeing the life fade from his eyes really opened mine to how fragile life really was.

I knew that I didn't want to die as he had.

I chose the same lifestyle he had and so the only way that I could guarantee my life would be to get stronger, faster, smarter, and better. I needed to use all my abilities to my advantage and increase my repertoire of skills if I didn't want to die like Soru; killed by an enemy because of his weakness and negligence.

I suddenly stopped my movements as my **Chakra Sonar** pinged and I received feedback of a group of 4 chakra signatures on the edge of my detection range heading in my direction: 3 familiar and 1 foreign, but familiar as well. In but a few seconds, they all arrived in front of me, noting that it was Boar and his shinobi.

"So you're still alive kid?" The lead man, Boar, asked though I could tell he seemed slightly sluggish. He seemed to be carrying a sack over his shoulder while his two other teammates carried wounds all over their bodies.

I responded with a nod to which he sighed, "Your clone did good in leading those Iwa shinobi towards us and you've done well in keeping yourself alive, but I can tell you've had a long night." He stated as he looked straight into my eyes. How he could notice anything by only looking into my eyes from my mask was beyond me.

I didn't reply, but I suppose I didn't need to. Boar carelessly took off the sack on his shoulder allowing me to see that it was actually a constraint that was used to wrap up an individual.

"This is…"

"It's the sensor which was able to detect your clone. She apparently had splintered off the separate group of Iwa nin, the ones that your team had been facing." He then tossed the person at me, allowing me to notice that she was out cold, before he continued, "Wolf's group captured her, though they suffered heavy injuries so we made clones to take them away."

I looked at the tired but still well teammates of Boar and couldn't help but ask, "…What happened?"

The man sighed in exhaustion while his teammates seemed to shudder in anger, "Wolf's team made contact with the enemy first, however they were very skilled and had more numbers. If not for the fact that Dove had left some clones with our teams and warned us ahead of time, Wolf's may not have survived at all."

He didn't seem to want to explain any further, but I got the general gist of it. Wolf's team had probably held them off due to the fact that Dove's clone had helped allow them to prepare in time. They most likely managed to hold them off long enough, and maybe even killed a few, before Boar's squad got the jump on the rest. Well, that was my working theory based on the information I knew.

Nevertheless, I focused on Boar as he continued to speak, "The Iwa sensor might have some valuable information, so I need you to bring her back to base and make sure she is secured. My squad will patrol around and help out the rest of your group; we've already made contact with Dove and aside from being a little bruised she's alright. She should be looking for Turtle since he was out of her range."

I thanked him for the information that assured me that my teammates were alright, before carrying the sac containing the Iwa Kunoichi in a bridal carry.

"Take a break kid, It's been a long night for all of us." Was all Boar said before he nodded to his two companions and disappeared into the foliage, them two in tow.

I looked at the direction they retreated to before my gaze focused in the direction of Kusa's main city. I hopped from tree to tree and made my way back to our base with the prisoner in my grasp. The woman was unconscious, so the journey was relatively quiet all the way through except for the occasional wolf howl and chirp of insects.

Eventually, I arrived at our base of operations and went to the first-floor lounging area where the earlier meeting was held. As I unceremoniously dumped the body of the Iwa sensor on the couch, I noted that the other couches contained the downed forms of what seemed to be Wolf's comrades.

They wore bloodied bandages that covered their bodies and one of them had a wrapped up stump on their right arm. It appeared as if Boar had done what he could to stabilize them, but I couldn't help but look at the stump that used to be a right arm. No wonder why Wolf seemed so vindictive when she appeared next to me.

" _And in a single night, his career as a shinobi has been cut short…if this was Kotoe lying down on that couch-"_

"You know it's not polite to stare." A voice rasped out, breaking me from my thoughts. The Konoha shinobi was looking at me with a strained smile while cold sweat dribbled down his head. It was the first time I had seen him without his mask, so I returned the courtesy and removed my ANBU mask.

"Heh, if you think that's bad, you should take a look at what I did to the other guy. Don't think she's going to be moving at all without half her body." He suddenly coughed and I hastily moved forward, my hands glowing green, in order to stabilize his condition. "Eh? It seems like you were taught pretty well kid, Be grateful to your teacher." He then broke out into another coughing fit as I tried to heal him.

 **Mystic Palm Technique (Active) Lvl 20 [75.86%]**

 **The Mystical Palm Technique is a medical ninjutsu which allows the user to speed up the body's natural healing process by sending chakra from their hands into a wound or affected body part. It is vital to match the amount of chakra used to the severity of the affliction or injury which requires a great amount of chakra control.**

 **200% Increase to HP Regen**

"Don't move too much, you're seriously injured." I stayed quietly before looking at the other injured individual who looked to be unconscious, but less injured, "You should rest up and conserve your energy."

The guy forcefully made himself sit up on the couch and I had to support him lest he reopened his wounds. Noting my annoyed look at his stubbornness, he smirked. "No can do kid, I feel like if I close my eyes…I might not open them again." He finished tiredly.

I took a good look at his face; he had a slim build but was above average in height. His face seemed to be the one where you would only look once or twice before forgetting, making him perfect for infiltration. His eyes were a cloudy grey while he had a mop of short black spiky hair in his head.

He looked at his sleeping partner and snorted, "That guy's suffering more from chakra exhaustion than anything else, but he's pretty banged up as well. Make sure he's not dead or something."

I inwardly rolled my eyes and healed what I could with my little mastery over the mystic palm technique. His injuries were somewhat lighter than the other guy's but were still serious. Other than that, he still had all his limbs and wasn't covered in as many bloodied bandages so he should be fine.

The grey-eyed ninja looked at me in gratitude before turning his gaze towards the still unconscious Iwa Kunoichi and sneered, "Remind me to thank Dove when she gets back, if it wasn't for her clone warning us in advance well-" he grasped the empty spot that used to contain his hand, "I would have lost more than just a hand."

"What happened?" I asked curiously.

The guys shook his head before leaning into the couch and patting his missing limb, "to sum it up, Dove's clone alerted us to the fact that there were a lot of enemies coming our way with your clone in tow, so we had time to set up some traps. Problem was that they had a sensor as well." He stayed looking at our captive. "They knew where we were so some of our traps lost their effectiveness, however worst of all was that there was a couple of Iwa Explosion corps shinobi in that group."

He glanced at his right hand and bandaged body self depriciatively, "That bitch caught me by surprise when she blew my arm off, but I cut her in half so I think it was a fair trade." He sighed lightly and grimaced from his wounds. "In the end, we managed to hold them off until Boar and his boys arrived. A couple of heads and an unconscious enemy ninja later…" He looked at the ninja I had brought in. "Well, here we are." He finished, looked at the room mockingly.

I couldn't really understand how he felt, but I knew that being handicapped for the rest of your life wasn't really an experience anyone would want to go through.

"Don't look like that kid, all that matters is that we're in one piece…" he then looked at his stump. "Well mostly anyway."

At my raised brow he shrugged, "well point is that we're tough especially my captain." He whistled in appreciation, "Man if it wasn't for the fact that she could kick my ass sideways, I would so try to tap that. The woman took on 3 of them at once yet still came out unscathed, damn how I want to just bend her over and-"

"What exactly are you teaching a child, Shark?" A feminine voice sounded.

The grey-eyed man widened his eyes in recognition, horror, and nervousness, "C-Captain?! H-how long have you been here?"

"That's unimportant." Wolf stated before dropping a body that she had been carrying.

It moved and raised its head before taking a look at its surroundings. Her hands and feet were bound tightly and her mouth was gagged. When she looked at me, her eyes narrowed and she snarled at me in hatred.

"…What took you so long." I asked blandly.

Wolf gazed at me before replying, "Well as soon as you released her she tried to run; wasn't much of a problem since she was half dead, but delayed me nonetheless."

I raised a brow as she continued, "Then I tried to be nice by keeping her conscious, but her kicking and screaming all the way made it less manageable for me."

Shark snickered as he looked at the bondage's form of the Iwa ninja, "Damn captain, I didn't know that tying up little girls was your thing."

"And I didn't know that you were a little girl." Was her calm reply.

Shark looked at her oddly, "…but I'm not."

"Then I'll make you one if you don't keep quiet."

That shut him up.

Wolf gave the sensor ninja I had brought it a once-over before she stated. "I also made contact with Turtle and other than being a little banged up, he's in good condition. The others should be here soon, so in the meantime relax here, I'm going to scout a little bit more." Without waiting for any reply of confirmation, the woman Body Flickered out of the room.

"Isn't she just charming?"

"…Sure."

* * *

"This has been an interesting night huh? Our first night and we already get to experience the joys of the front lines in full." Kotoe stated as we bathed in the mixed bath hot springs of Kusa, a towel covering most of her up.

"And the kid made it out in one piece as well. Good for you." Turtle stated as he leaned on the edge of the springs, a small towel covering up his essential components.

I, on the other hand, was in my birthday suit.

There was sadly nothing to see down there for me anyway. So I had a towel on my head, but nothing else.

It's important to note that this was the first time I had ever seen turtle without his mask and so I had taken a look at him. Silver hair, blue eyes, fair skin and an above average height were the first adjectives that came to mind and he was built like a runner which fit with his specialty.

"…Thanks." I said quietly.

After Wolf had left Shark and me at the building, I had decided to continue working on my Mystic Palm technique on the two test dumm- Leaf Shinobi in order to improve my skills. I took shark's words to heart when he told me about his this could save my life one day and since I had nothing better to do till the rest of the Konoha ninja arrived, why not practice my life-saving skill?

Turtle looked at me for a moment and sighed, "But to think that you already…" he shook his head and his brown eyes stared into my silver ones, "how are you feeling kid?"

"…I'm fine" I replied blandly

"And that's all that matters." Kotoe stepped in, looking at me seriously and bringing me closer to her, "I can't say that I appreciate Wolf making you do that, but it's a hurdle you would have had to pass sooner or later and trust me, the sooner the better."

When everyone reconvened back to the base, Wolf had gone ahead and done whatever it was she did in order to get information from her captives. That place apparently had soundproof rooms that could be used for those purposes or ones more…carnal.

The moment that Turtle and Dove had arrived, they had somehow instantly known that I had taken a life. As a result, they had come up with the idea of bringing me someplace relaxing and so here I was. That did get me wondering though…

"How does everyone figure that out as soon as they look at me?" I asked. Boar had figured it out as soon as he looked at me and that was when I had my ANBU mask on. I had no doubt that Shark also realized something, but he didn't really say anything and now Turtle and Kotoe had realized as soon as they saw me.

Turtle looked to me seriously before replying, "It's the eyes kid, windows to the soul and all that."

I gave him a dull look, "…that sounds like bullshit."

Kotoe promptly flicked my head.

"Language."

I gave her a slightly annoyed look, "It's fine if I kill, but the moment I curse I've apparently committed a grave sin. I don't understand your logic."

"Don't try to." Turtle stated, shaking his head, "Women are complex creatures and trying to decipher them is like trying to understand fuuinjutsu. Only a unique individual with a special bloodline can ever hope to accomplish such an incredible feat."

Kotoe looked at him in annoyance before bringing me closer and stating seriously, "He's somewhat right though-" she started, pulling me closer, "Your hand is shaking."

I looked down at the hand I had used to take a life and noted that it was indeed slightly vibrating under the warm water causing ripples to form. " _I guess that 10% part of me is still upset…"_ I thought as I willed my arm to stop shaking.

Kotoe wrapped her hands around me and whispered softly, "I can't say it gets easier from here because] however do remember that I am always here for you."

Softly, I replied "…Thank you."

Kotoe smiled while Turtle nodded his head and we stayed like this in silence for a while, the only sound being that of the flowing warm water and the other people in the background.

"This half of the water seems more lively. Mind if I join?" A voice called out. The individual was a woman of around 5 feet 8 inches in height with blond hair, sky blue eyes and an amazing figure.

It was Wolf.

"… _I kind of understand Shark now…too bad I'm too young."_

If I had to rate her, I would say that she was around a 9.2/10, just slightly lower than my beautiful 9.4/10 teacher.

Kotoe looked at her for a moment before she shrugged, "Suit yourself."

Wolf sat down in the water next to us, her jugs floating in the water. It was important to mention that she was in her birthday suit as well and no one seemed to care. Everyone was more or less professional about it, so I didn't bother with it, besides, I had seen my teacher naked hundreds of times.

There was a short silence before the woman asked, "How're you feeling kid?"

I looked at her from on top of Kotoe's lap, my silver eyes half-lidded, before I replied, "I'm alright."

The blue-eyed woman looked at me for a while before inquiring, "Your body doesn't seem to think so."

I followed her gaze to my right hand and noted that it was shaking again. I gripped it tightly with my left hand and replied apathetically, "…mostly alright."

Without warning, I was suddenly carried away from Kotoe and found my head resting against the soft sensation of fleshy orbs. Kotoe didn't move to take me back, instead, she looked at Wolf deeply before motioning to Turtle after which they both moved away.

"Do you know how I felt after I killed a man for the first time?"

I shook my head to which she wrapped her hands around me and brought me closer, "Nothing"

I blinked at her reply and continued to listen, "I think I lost something that day, however seeing you today after your first kill-" she paused, resting a chin on my head, "I remembered that time." She used her hand to pry away my left hand from holding my right as she continued, "Don't fight this feeling because it shows that you still have something in you kid, just live with it. I think it might be healthier but don't take my word for it as I'll never truly know."

I gripped my right fist as it continued shaking and relaxed my body body against her chest. Eventually, Kotoe and Turtle came back to this area after which Wolf went back to her little area that she was relaxing in. After we had enough time of communication and relaxation, we made our way back to our residence and went to bed, the fatigue from the events of the night catching up with us. I slept with Kotoe, not because I couldn't sleep by myself but because I simply didn't want to.

And with that, I drifted off into sleep.

It had been a long night.

* * *

 **Shit happens, Yoru kills for the first time.**

 **Sorry that this came out later than usual. I just finished my first semester of Junior year in college and came home a few days ago so my release schedule will be a little later on Sundays than usual. Good news is that I will have more time to write so if you're lucky, you'll get 2 chapters in one of these weeks.**

 **Don't get your hopes up though.**

 **Till next time**


	7. Chapter 7

Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like reading fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

A few days passed since that encounter with the two Iwa squads and we had been patrolling more carefully than before around the border of Kusa and Iwa due to our casualties. Due to that, we had made sure to keep our encounters with the enemy to a minimum and also allowed Kusa to take over patrolling a wider area of their border than before.

Currently, all of us were inside the first-floor living room of the complex that Kusagakure had lent us and were coming together to listen to the report of the information Wolf had extracted from our captives. Apparently, it was _very_ unusual for Iwa to send members of their explosion corps out in the sense that it usually meant that Iwa was planning something by bringing them out in the front lines.

"Everyone is here it seems." Boar stated, his arms crossed, his muscles bulging from his clothes, and his figure towering. I would never say this out loud, but he actually looked pretty cool with that pose, it really worked for him.

Boar nodded after doing a quick sweep of the room before gesturing to Wolf who took the stand. She looked at all of us before explaining, "The enemy sensor's mental defenses were tougher than anticipated, however, it appeared as if she regarded, with special fondness, our other captive. In the end, I was able to get the information I wanted."

As she paused to allow everyone to digest the information, however, my mind was elsewhere… " _Who knew she was a Yamanaka…"_

Wolf then pulled out a map and spread it on the large Living room table causing the rest of us to lean forward in order to get a glimpse at what she was presenting, "Right here…" she said, pointing to an area on the map, "Is where a lake spans in between the mountainous regions of the border between Kusa and Iwa. It is a wide body of water and while not necessarily an issue for shinobi, it might be a problem for transporting supplies."

I looked at the area of the map and couldn't help but comment with furrowed brows, "…the lake is located on the Eastern part of Kusa's border, the area where we are guarding." One of the reasons Kusa was comfortable allowing us, a small group of Leaf shinobi, to guard this area of their country was not only because we were an elite group of shinobi, but mainly because in the north there were a group of mountains that acted as a natural border between Iwa and Kusa.

Of course, it couldn't keep Iwa out, but it was a pain to traverse through and large groups of shinobi would find it hard to travel across those mountains together. The most important thing, however, was that this small mountain range actually expanded northward through Iwa and was located in the 200 km eastern area that we Konoha shinobi were tasked to guard.

Wolf nodded her head at my comment and continued, "This is actually why we met with members of the explosion corps." The woman pointed to an area in the middle of the mountain Ranges, that was close to the lake, "Around here is a dormant volcano that hasn't been active in over a century. Currently, there seems to be no sign of it activating in the next half-century or so, but that might change quite soon."

Everyone perked up at that, Shark, the man who had his arm blown off and was used as a test sub- patient by me, spoke up in consternation, "What exactly do you mean Captain? If the volcano isn't expected to be active for another 50 years, then why would it suddenly activate?"

"You might have to thank Iwa for that." Wolf stated, causing everyone to listen even more intently to what she was about to say, "From what I gathered, the Tsuchikage had been sending small groups of shinobi, containing members of their Explosion Corps, to the site of the inactive volcano." She breathed a heavy sight before continuing, "Apparently, they plan to use a unique technique that would allow them to implant their chakra's explosive nature into inanimate substances, in order to transform the cavern floor of the volcano into a giant bomb."

I could see the forms of everyone around me tensing at that information as Boar asked forbiddingly, "You can't mean…"

Wolf nodded her head, "Right. The Tsuchikage had the _genius_ idea to startle the volcano awake and cause it to erupt prematurely by setting off a mass explosion with the chakra of explosion corps members."

"This…!" Shark stated in shock gripping the area of his arm that was missing and he wasn't the only one who was startled by the revelation as even Turtle tensed up, "I'm not sure if I can outrun the pyroclastic flow…not in that terrain."

Viper, the other man who I had helped heal aside from Shark, asked, "What exactly do they plan to gain from this? And how long do we have?" The man was very lean, however, I could tell from his body that he had amazing flexibility and agility. It wouldn't surprise me if his reaction speeds were high as well.

"We have about a week or so as it takes a while for enough chakra to be transmitted into the volcano floor for their plan to be feasible. As for what they hope to gain from this…" She put on a thoughtful look, "Her memories did not explicitly state what the end goal was, but I can harbor a guess."

She looked at the map again before explaining, "If the volcano erupts, it is close enough to the lake that the magma will flow into it and instantly cool and harden creating a solid enough foundation with which Iwa could use to move their troops. This will also allow for a relatively stable passageway that they can use to transport supplies to the front lines, effectively creating another Kannabi Bridge."

"But that is a double edged sword." Dove spoke up. She pointed to the area on the other side of the volcano on the map, "if it erupts, magma will flow _both_ ways and it will take longer to cool on Iwa's side, where there is no nearby body of water than it would on Kusa's side. Long enough that Kusa would be able to react to the sudden sound and start positioning more of its defenses to that area."

"But it will thin out their forces." Boar suddenly spoke up. "Kusa is a small country and doesn't have nearly as many shinobi as Iwa does. Spreading their forces will leave them more vulnerable to infiltration and attack on their now more open ends. Not only that, it will still take some time before our reinforcements arrive and if this insane plan succeeds, then Iwa might be able to create a strong enough foothold here that it might not matter when our reinforcements finally do."

Everyone took a pause at that information. The current issue was that the war had really just started and so Konoha hadn't finished preparing all of its forces. They had to make sure that they had enough forces to protect their borders near Kumo, the land of Lightning, and Kiri, the land of Water. Suna, in the land of Wind, were our allies so we didn't have to worry about them. Afterward, Konoha had to decide how many shinobi they were willing to delegate to Kusa to defend against Iwa's invasion and how many they needed to stay at the home country.

In essence, it would take a while.

Boar sighed before continuing, "Regardless, we have to relay this information to Kusa. What we need to do is stop this plan before it goes to its last stages. I believe that if we can accomplish this, Iwa might be demoralized enough that they'll halt their advance, hopefully, long enough for our support arrives."

However, I could see that not everyone here was too optimistic about the odds. If Iwa has been planning this for some time now, then there was a good chance that they had plenty of contingency plans in place just in case things went south.

"We shouldn't stress ourselves over it now." Dove started, gathering everyone's attention, "We have enough time to reconvene with the Kusa-nin and plan out a course of action. In the meantime, I would suggest we all just continue to stay vigilant and watch the borders more carefully."

"That's a sound enough plan given for our situation." Wolf stated. "At the very least we should be glad that we received this information. It would have been a lot worse if we had been caught unprepared and if it wasn't for the captive that Squirrel apprehended in his fight, the sensor might not have broken in time."

"HAHA, good shit kid!" Shark said as he slapped my back in approval.

"…Ow."

Shark snickered, while the other squad members looked at me in approval and even though I couldn't tell with her mask on, I felt that Dove was proud of me.

"Alright, Dove, Wolf And I will talk to the Kusa leaders about this information. In the meantime you all sit back and recover your energy, you might need it." And with that Boar vanished.

The rest of the shinobi present went in to do their own thing before Dove began patting my head, "You did good Squirrel for your first night out and I couldn't be happier about how you did. Keep it up." She too then vanished leaving only Wolf as the last team leader here.

I walked up to her, as she was packing the map she used, causing her to look at me, "What's up kid?"

I looked at her for a while and asked her a question that had been on my mind, "…What happened to the two captives we brought?"

"I disposed of them." The woman said simply.

I blinked, "…oh."

"Remember Yoru that we are soldiers at war." She said, looking straight at me. "We never show our enemies mercy." And with that, the woman disappeared in a swirl of leaves leaving me with Shark who sighed in relief, "…God, she's scary and hot at the same time. Why does that weirdly arouse me?"

I left Shark to discover parts of himself that he never knew existed and contemplated her words before shaking my head.

" _A soldier huh...?"_

* * *

"What the hell is that old fool Onoki thinking?!" A man yelled, his voice echoing throughout the meeting room. A couple more days had passed since the talk I had with my prisoner. Boar, Wolf, and Dove had come together to discuss the next plan of action with the native Kusa shinobi and they agreed to have an emergency meeting with us on the topic.

As a result, and because there weren't many of us Konoha shinobi here, all of us were in the meeting room where the leaders were planning their strategy. The man yelling was one of the heads of Kusa's assault division and needless to say, he was not happy.

I'll refer to him as important guy 1 since I really didn't care about his name.

Important guy 1 continued, "Is this is true, then it'll affect him just as much as it will affect us! This is insanity!"

"Not quite." Important guy 2 from Kusa spoke. I think he was one of the generals and was considered a good strategist by many, at least that's what Dove told me. "It's true that on the surface we might face the same amount of damage, however, Iwa is larger and has that much more resources that they can pool from. As opposed to them, we would have a much more difficult time with the aftermath simply due to our limited size."

"Then what do you suppose we do?" Some other random guy spoke up. I don't think he was _that_ important though.

Important guy 2 looked at Boar and asked, "How long exactly do we have?"

"5 days." Wolf was the one to reply. "And that is if everything goes well on their end which we can't be sure of."

Important guy 2 nodded, "We'll treat this as the worst-case scenario and act as if we have even less time than that. Truthfully, the only option we have is to take a few elite shinobi and halt the threat while simultaneously keeping the majority of our forces on our borders in order to prevent Iwa from taking advantage of any gap we may leave." The man sighed before asking, "Any information about how many forces they have stationed there?"

Wolf toon barely a moment to reply, "My captive's memories did not state any specific number but based on the amount of time they have been there, the size of the volcano, and the amount of expected force that would be needed, I would wager that the Tsuchikage had sent a decent number. Probably around 15 squads with 3-4 members each and around 1-2 of each member being from the explosion corps."

"If we expect the worse then that's around 60 enemy shinobi with 30 of them being in the explosion corps." The man rubbed his chin in thought, before nodding to himself after a while, "The most efficient yet riskiest plan would be to send in a small number of elites who are skilled in infiltration and demolition. We can have them kill off as many of the enemy shinobi as they can, drawing the majority of the enemy's attention towards them. If we can draw them away from the volcano enough, another group can swoop in from behind, through the mountain ranges, and block off their path of retreat. Well, that's the gist of it at least, simple and crude, but if Onoki truly wants to go through with this plan, then it will be effective."

I could hear murmurs of agreement going around the before one person spoke up, "Then who will go? And how many?"

"My squad will have to go." Dove suddenly spoke up, drawing attention towards her, "We have two sensors and a uniquely fast shinobi on my team. I can easily pinpoint the enemies position and with my sensing capabilities, I should be able to detect them before any of their sensors detect me."

Important guy 1 nodded, "That will be very useful to have, so I'll have 4, 3-Man assault squads assist you in that endeavor. I'll pick the ones who are very skilled in infiltration and we can plan out our course of action more in depth when I get them."

Dove nodded, "That sounds excellent." She then looked to Important guy 2 and asked, "Do you have anything to add General?"

The man out on a thoughtful expression for a moment before shaking his head, "Most of what I have to say will be said when the other groups arrive. I do believe, however, that this should be the maximum amount of individuals that we should use as a diversion. The rest of our forces will be flanking the enemy, but other than that, I've got nothing else for now."

Dove nodded and the room soon delved into debates and plans about the incoming mission. I listened to the plans and easily committed them to memory with **Eidetic Memory**.

After a while, Important Guy 2 spoke up as Important Guy 1 came back into the setting. "Now that all the necessary parties are here, let's move on with our next course of action."

* * *

"Remember the plan?" Dove asked as we silently moved across the rocky terrain. It was currently night time and we were traveling towards the sight of the active volcano: Me, Dove, and Turtle.

I nodded my head at Dove's question, "You'll create and dispel a clone as a signal to the other clones that you left in the care of the Kusa squads. We'll attack and try to draw as much of the aggression as possible. My job is to create as many clones as I can and have them create traps and stall as we escape."

Dove nodded, "Then let's begin. Turtle!"

"On it!" He yelled as he created two clones and ran forward with them at incredible speeds. If it wasn't for the fact that the terrain wasn't flat and that we were in a pretty dense and rocky forest, I knew that Turtle would have easily broken the sound barrier.

Dove made a hand seal and caused a clone to appear before it dispelled. "Let's go!"

We dashed forward, forgoing stealth as we made our way towards the currently dormant volcanic area. Turtle's job had been to use his clones to scout and trigger booby traps that may be around the camp while he himself created as much disorder as _fast_ as he could with his swift release. A simple diversion that we could only use because Turtle was confident in his speed and so were we.

In but a few seconds, we came across the area where the enemy Shinobi were expected to be.

"Fuck enemy attack! Get in your formations!"

"Protect the Explosion Corps and secure your positions!"

"Earth walls! Create earth walls dammit!"

Orders and directions were screamed about as the enemy shinobi reacted to our attack at the base of the volcanic area.

Dove gave me a look before she splintered off and did what she could to attract the enemy attention while I looked ahead impassively. We had already planned the escape routes we would use, so there we didn't worry about us being separated when it came time to escape

In front of me, I noted a squad of 3 staying in a circular formation with their backs against each other and their gaze focused in three different directions as they looked about nervously. With my enhanced auditory senses, I could hear what they were saying as I approached them. I flipped through a few hand seals and got a weapon from my inventory while stalking them silently.

"Dammit! Why did the enemy target this location?! How did they even know about it?!"

"Two demolition squads a few days ago." His partner replied gripping his kunai tightly, "They left to help assist one of our scouts in repelling the enemy, but they never returned. They must have been captured and tortured for information."

"Those traitors!" The first one spat in rage

"Keep your eyes peeled." The third and last member of the group said. "3 of them were fast enough to outrun and disable our traps and we have no idea how many others- DUCK!"

But they were too slow.

I had already thrown out a Fuma Shuriken as I was in the sky and watched as it flew towards them. As they made to move out of the way, I twitched two fingers on both of my hands and separated the giant throwing star with the wire I had attached to it. The long blades of the projectile separated into 4 at my movements, with the strings attached to the blades and allowing me to maneuver them.

I channeled my Lightning Strike into both my hands and with another jerk of my fingers, 2 Lightning enhanced metal blades impaled one of the enemies through the chest, instantly killing him. The remaining two projectiles impaled my last two targets in the legs, the electricity traveling through their body causing them to spasm.

"SHIT! ENEMY THIS WAY! WE NEED REINFORCEMENTS!"

One of the injured shinobi screamed drawing attention to my area. However, before they could come to his aid, they were distracted by an explosion that rocketed the other end of their camp and I gazed at the green fireworks quietly.

" _Seems like Kusa finished in time…that's my cue to leave."_

And with that, I threw 5 kunai with both my hands, each projectile containing special explosion tags that spewed green flames. The explosions weren't stronger by any means, but they were our signal to retreat after we had gotten enough of their attention. My attack caused more damage to the surroundings and caused enough of a distraction that I was able to create distance between me and my incoming enemies.

"One of them is getting away! Follow him!"

"Shit! But we have to guard this site! We can't just abandon it!"

"But if we don't they may come back when we are least prepared! After them!"

I could hear the arguments and screams of frustration behind me as I made my escape which meant that I had successfully drawn their aggression. With a pulse of my **Chakra Sonar** , I sensed the chakras of both Dove and Turtle around a 750-meter radius from me which set my mind at ease.

" _They escaped successfully as well…time for phase 2."_

With a flip of a hand seal, 10 clones came into existence beside me. They all nodded at me and went on their way to stall and trap the enemy shinobi however they could. I had created a good enough distance from them mainly due to the fact that they could hardly see me in the low visibility and they had been quite distracted from the fireworks happening all around.

To be honest, phase 2 was not as complicated as it sounded. It pretty much entailed that all the assault teams had to keep themselves alive long enough for the reinforcements to arrive at the flank. I could spam clones with my large chakra reserves, Turtle could outrun most elite ninja, and Dove was a magnificent sensor who could hide whenever she sensed an enemy coming all the way from 20 kilometers. I had no idea how the other teams planned on keeping themselves alive for the time being, but it really wasn't my issue.

My mind was brought back as memories of a clone came back to me. Before I could even look through them, my attention was brought back to my rear as an enormous explosion rocketed out far behind me. Another set of memories appeared in my mind as chakra returned to me from my clones. They had set off large amounts of explosive tags before they died, most likely taking out the enemies that had been following me.

I encouraged myself to move faster as the sounds of explosions increased and more of my clones died. At the speed I was traveling, my enemies and I were already well away from their camp at the base of the volcano. The other strike team would have a little bit more time now to traverse the mountains and attack from behind.

I was broken out of my thoughts, however, when I noticed that after most of the chakra signatures following me had died from the traps my clones had managed to set up in time, a lot of them were starting to retreat. As I was about to contemplate this further, my brows knitted tightly as my last clone died, " _this might be a bit…problematic."_

An extremely powerful chakra signature was making its way towards me quickly having pulverized my clone, but Dove and Turtle were also currently preoccupied with escaping, so they would be unable to help. If they tried, they would also bring along the groups chasing them as well which would make this situation that much more dangerous. We had to escape while leaving a trail so that our enemies could follow us and leave their base which would allow our other group to flank them. If we didn't leave clues for them to follow us and they simply gave up chasing, our flanking group would have to face a now more guarded Iwa base/camp.

The chakra signature seemed to be around Jonin and was closing in on me quickly. I hastily summoned a clone who knew exactly what I needed him to do, so it made its way further ahead of me, while I started to slow down. Based on my opponent's speed, he/she would be able to catch up with me eventually based on the fact that he/she was shrugging off the multiple explosive traps my clones had set up.

I eventually stopped running since this seemed to be the only enemy left that was chasing me. The rest had retreated, probably figuring that this was a large diversion, however at this point, it didn't matter. When the green explosions had gone off at the base of the Iwa camp, it was also meant to alert our other forces to begin their movements. Additionally, we had already forced them a good distance away from their base so they most likely wouldn't make it in time.

I turned around and waited for my enemy to approach, but not before creating four shadow clones and having them henge into kunai.

"It seems you've given up escaping kid." The man said as he arrived in front of me, cracking the earth as he roughly landed from the trees to the ground. He had short black hair, onyx eyes, with a densely packed build.

He stared into my eyes while I stared into his until he snickered. "ANBU huh…? Kusa doesn't have the skill nor resources needed to train up and maintain such a division and Konoha is the only country who has something to gain from helping this small country." He cracked his neck while staring at me, "But to think that a kid like you would have the skill necessary to be part of that group…you must be talented" he said, staring at me seriously.

Seeing as it was pointless and it would inhibit my water techniques, I took off my ANBU Mask and placed it in my inventory, though I made sure to use a henge to disguise my real face. "I'd like to consider myself adequate." Was my reply as I carefully observed him.

 **Name: [Rock Shinobi]**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: Lvl 52**

 **HP: 37500/37500**

 **CP: 12664/19000**

 **STR: 300**

 **VIT: 375**

 **DEX: 225**

 **INT: 200**

 **WIS: 200**

 **ENGY: 380**

The man looked at me intently before smirking and cracking his knuckles, "We'll see kid."

I looked at the man intently as I quickly came up with numerous scenarios in my mind. This man was faster, stronger, and had more health than I did. The only thing I could match him in was Intelligence and I outclassed him in ENGY and CP. I briefly contemplated using my stat points, but if a time came when someone even stronger than me came along and I had no stat points to boost myself, then what would I do?

I didn't want to use them as a crutch beside, I wanted to test my tactical skills and analysis. I tightly gripped my kunai and watched as he slowly made his way towards me before he suddenly blurred.

My eyes widened and I hastily crossed my arms to guard against the incoming attack, however, I was a little too slow. His attack smashed against my arms and catapulted me back into the forest. My body crashed into multiple trees causing me to grit my teeth as I hastily tried to rebalance my body. I skidded to a stop, my feet dragging lines across the rocky ground.

 **-1895**

 **[Yorudan]**

 **HP: 16300/18195**

I shook my arms to get rid of the numbing sensation while watching the man appear from the trees my body had destroyed.

Immediately, I threw my projectiles towards him while simultaneously trying to place him in a genjutsu. The man let them bounce off his body, however, I twitched my fingers. The black metal wire that connected my fingers to the kunai responded to my movements and caused the projectiles to change course mid-air as they wrapped around my enemy.

"Interesting." The man stated blandly before he flexed against his bindings. I grit my teeth and focused my strength in restraining him while simultaneously flipping through handseals.

 _"Lightning Strike."_

I intoned in my mind as Lightning flowed from my hands, through the metal wire, and into the body of the Iwa shinobi. He screamed in agony and flailed, however, my victory was short lived as the man turned into mud.

"When did he…?!" I thought eyes widening.

Before I could contemplate any further, my Detect Danger warned me of an incoming attack from below. I flipped through a few hand seals, but before I could even move to jump, a pair of hands wrapped around my ankles and pulled me into the earth as if it were made of fine sand.

 _"This is…!"_

"Earth Style: Hiding Like a Mole Technique." My opponent, Rei, stated as he popped up from the earth before looking down at me, his arm poised to strike.

I looked up to him apathetically and suddenly spit 5 balls of chakra enhanced water bullets at my adversary as he was in close range. The man's brows knitted as he crosses his arms and jumped back away from me towards the direction his mud clone had been.

 _"Which is where I need him…"_

The moment that thought went through my head, the man's foot landed on the ground and in that instant 3 of my henge'd kunai transformed back into me and wrapped around the man's body: both his legs and his torso.

It was important to note that the ninja wire in both my hands was still attached to my 'kunai', aka my henge'd clones, so before the man could react, I channeled my Lightning Strike through the metal wire and into the body of the Iwa shinobi.

"Fuck!" He swore, as the Lightning coursed through his veins and he tensed his muscles to mitigate the pain.

 **-3720**

 **-3720**

 **HP: 30060/37500**

The man suddenly stopped tensing and chuckled lightly, "I admit you got me there, however…" with a grunt he pulled himself up and slammed his back against the ground. My clones screamed and then dispelled from the impact causing smoke to rise up and obscure my vision momentarily.

 _"Shit…"_ I thought as shards of rock flew at me from the momentary smoke causing me to retreat back. I quickly brought out my kunai and rapidly deflected the earthen projectiles as I backpedaled deeper into the forest. With cold sweat dripping down my face, I pulsated my chakra with Chakra Sonar.

Immediately, I jumped up into the air just as a pair of arms jutted out from the ground. _"The same trick…?"_ I thought, however, the only reply I received was a spike of earth jutting from the ground and hurtling towards me swiftly.

It would have impaled me through the stomach, had I not used substitution to replace myself with a log that was promptly shredded by the attack. In the same instant, I threw a kunai with an explosive tag attached into the hole where the arms had come out from. With my hands clasped together and my fingers interlocking, I mentally thought "Explode."

A shower of dust and debris appeared as the ground below blew up into chunks so I hastily covered my eyes, while pulsing my chakra, in order to protect my vision. When the dust literally settled, I already knew that my attack had failed as both my Detect Danger and Chakra Sonar skills warned me of an enemy behind. I promptly jumped off the tree I was on just as a pair of arms came out of the foliage to ensnare me.

"Good reaction speeds, amazing tactical and situational awareness, and creative use of skills…you're one frightening kid." The voice of my opponent sounded as he made his body fully visible. This time I made sure I was dealing with the real deal by continuously pulsing my chakra which ensured me that I was.

I looked back at him impassively, "…Thank you." However, I was inwardly watching his every action and committing them to memory. As I was about to make my next move, the clone I had sent ahead of me earlier popped and transmitted its memories to me that it had completed its job.

All of this took merely a moment to occur and so it was almost immediately after I had thanked him that I retreated backward. The man followed suit and was hot on my tail, so I clapped my hands together.

 _"Explode."_

Instantly, the trees behind me exploded into chunks of splinters causing the man to scream out in anger at the attack. I knew that it wouldn't hold him for long, but it would allow me to pull the distance between us as I got closer to the clearing my clone had set up. It was also that same clone that lined these trees ahead of me with explosive tags.

I jumped from tree to tree, occasionally blowing one up along the way to slow down my enemy, before I arrived at the area my clone had set up at. No sooner did the Iwa nin arrive, his clothes tattered and a frown on his face.

I narrowed my eyes.

I noticed that he was slightly out of breath, his diaphragm rising and lowering more than it had a moment ago before I had tried to blow him up. I quickly observed him and found out why.

* * *

 **Name: [Rock Shinobi]**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: Lvl 52**

 **HP: 30098/37500**

 **CP: 6186/19000**

* * *

 _"His CP…"_ It was a lot lower than it should have been from the techniques he had been using. They couldn't have been any more than C-Rank ninjutsu so there was no reason he should have lost around half of his chakra. Furthermore, when I had first observed him, his CP was already only ⅔ full.

This meant that he must have done something that cost him a lot of his energy, probably the same thing that kept him from being harmed by all my traps and explosions.

 _"Could it be…Rock Skin consumes chakra equivalent to the damage taken?"_ I thought before settling in a stance and staring him down. My opponent regarded me cautiously and narrowed his eyes before suddenly dashing towards me rapidly, however this time I was more prepared. When fighting opponents in hand to hand combat, Perfect Movement doubled my movement speed and increased my attack/evasion speed by 50% and that wasn't even mentioning the additional bonus I got in movement speed and reflexes from Cat's Grace which increased them by 50%. In other words, I was just slightly faster than him in a straight up fight.

I ducked under a kicked aimed for my head and back flipped away from his extended leg right before it stomped the ground where I had stood. I near instantaneously went through handseals and bulged my cheeks before spitting out highly chakra dense water bullets. The man 'tsked' And jumped away from my projectiles instead of tanking them like he usually did.

I hastily ran forward in order attack before he regained his footing, however before I could attack him, he flipped through handseals and stomped his foot on the ground causing a large wall of solid earth to obstruct my path. I gripped my fists and swung them at the wall causing spiderweb cracks to spread out on the structure before it collapsed into heaps of rock.

I immediately knew he wasn't behind the wall from my Chakra Sonar, so I swiftly turned around, however, the enemy Jonin had already popped up behind me from the earth and was reaching towards me with his outstretched arm.

My danger sense suddenly wailed at me to not allow myself to get touched by his hands and I moved to retreat, however, my eyes widened when the back of his arm released an explosion, accelerating his attack tremendously and catching me off guard. His punch impacted my ribs, cracking a few in the process, however, that was not all.

 **Explosion Release: Exploding Palm!**

His fist exploded on impact and launched me back, my body breaking through multiple trees in the process. My body was wracked with severe pain as I felt almost all my ribs break and I had a feeling there was a hole in my stomach right now.

 **-13255**

 **[Yorudan]**

 **HP: 3685/18195**

I coughed out blood and pieces of my entrails as I thought about my current predicament, after all, who knew he was a member of the explosion corps? The duration between the first time he had damaged me and now had been no more than 2 minutes during which I had recovered 640 HP, but now I just lost over ¾ of my remaining life. I could recover, but all I needed was time, _"Which I don't really have much of…but…"_

I watched as the man slowly made his way towards me as he looked at my downed form grimly.

During the entire time we had been combating, I had been carefully manipulating my chakra into his system in order for him to see a slightly different picture than what he was seeing at this moment. I looked up to him apathetically and coughed a few more times.

The man took a look at my face before shaking his head with a snicker, "Still acting so tough. Well, it's your funeral!" He yelled as he brought down an Explosion Release covered fist down on my body, however before his attack could connect, I spat at him.

I could see the man suddenly tense at my saliva before forcing himself to change his course of action and jump back. My single ball of spit flew past him, however, three red lines appeared on his cheek, and blood immediately started to gush from the wounds. The man widened his eyes and touched his face to feel the dripping blood before his body suddenly shook unsteadily. He immediately dropped to a knee as cold sweat dripped from his face.

"W-What…?!" He asked in surprise before his eyes widened and he shakily formed a hand seal before stating with bated breaths, "Genjutsu…Release!"

I wasn't surprised that he had figured it out so quickly, but I doubted he shared the same sentiment as the visual illusion I had put him in disappeared. Instead of seeing me on the brink of death, he now saw my glowing green hand over the gaping hole in my stomach that was rapidly closing, the Mystical Palm Technique increasing my already rapid regeneration rate.

"Y-You…?!" He glared at me in unwillingness and disbelief before gritting his teeth, veins popping from his head, "How?!"

"Genjutsu and planning." I stated simply before looking past him. He followed my gaze and noted the senbon which had caused the gashes on his face. I had used a Genjutsu on him to make him see 'spit' when in reality I had attacked him with senbon coated with the highly potent Giant Komodo Dragon Venom. He would probably be experiencing a rapid decrease in blood pressure, accelerated blood loss, and he might possibly be sent into shock...oh and he would feel a lot of pain as well.

The senbon had been courtesy of my teacher, so I had placed them in my inventory for safe keeping but not before coating them with the extracted venom of the Giant Komodo dragon I had killed from before, using Kotoe's help to extract it. In this situation, I decided to access my inventory through the inside of my mouth and with my poison resistance, they didn't cause me as much damage or pain as they did him.

They were, however, uncomfortable.

My mouth was a bit numb.

The man looked at me with barely suppressed rage as he shakily stood up before walking towards me, "I'm…going to…kill you!"

"Doubtful." Was my reply as I continued to heal my stomach, a slight grimace on my face. I took out a kunai lazily tossed it at his direction, causing it to soar past his head.

He looked at me with a sneer, "You missed."

"No. I didn't."

The man's body suddenly tensed before he tried to shift his positioning, but he simply couldn't, the poison affecting his ability to move. My kunai impacted a tree behind the man, cutting a string of black wire, and at that moment, large amounts of ninja wire wrapped around him, each inch of it densely packed with explosive tags. The wires extended into the tree lines around us and the tags were painted a dark green color that made them blend in with the tree leaves. The dark night sky further hid them from any discernible view unless someone had been right in front of them.

The man looked on in horror as he struggled fervently against his bindings.

I went through one-handed handseals as I wrapped my free hand around a wire and stared at him blandly. Before we had faced off, I had a clone set-up and booby trap this particular area. All I had to do was lead the Iwagakure shinobi here and get him weak enough that he would be unable to react against the trap. Leading him here was easy, but making him weaker took a lot of effort since I had to get him to lower your guard.

Still, I was able to do it.

The man looked at me as if I was inhuman before gnashing his teeth, "How…!?"

My stoic face remained unchanging as I looked up into the night sky. Based on the position of the moon and the angle of its light, I didn't really have the time to play around here, "As much as I would enjoy sitting down and monologuing my entire plan to you in detail, I have a time schedule to uphold."

The man looked at me, his expression livid. "Damn you! You better pray I don't come out of this alive!" The man stated in indignation."

I gave him a blank look, "Don't worry, you won't." And with that I proceeded to ignore his following ramblings and activated my **Lightning Strike Technique** causing lightning to flow through the wire and into the Iwa shinobi, simultaneously I detonated the explosive tags.

Immediately, I substituted myself a far distance away and watched with a raised brow as a huge explosion sounded out, spreading a light shockwave that even I, who was 400 meters away, felt.

" _Jeez…how many explosive tags did my clone use? Well, I did get them from Minato and Kushina…"_

An interesting thing I had found out was that my clones had access to my inventory so whatever I stored there was readily available to them. I had been given A LOT of explosive tags from Kushina and Minato which were much more potent than normal.

I pulsed out my chakra in order to locate my teacher and Turtle, however, they were probably outside my detection range as I couldn't sense them. It made sense considering I had been more focused on fighting than escaping, so I made my way back to our meet-up point.

I hopped across the foliage and eventually came across a cave that my team members had set up as a safe point. I pulsed my chakra as I approached and noted that there were 2 chakra signatures inside, both of them familiar. With a light sigh of relief, I made my way inside, catching the attention of the two individuals already there.

"Yo, Yoru." Turtle said with a tired wave, his mask to the floor against him. I noticed that he was very out of breath and looking at his stats, I realized that his stamina and chakra levels were very low. I nodded in greeting and turned to the other occupant in the room, but my body froze.

"You…"

"I'm alright Yoru." Kotoe said with a grimace as she nursed her wrapped up leg, the blood leaking from the bandages. "…Though I suppose having your help would be nice."

I didn't need to be told twice, so I hastily came to her aid. I quickly unraveled her bandages and ignored the burnt skin as my hands glowed green over her. "…What happened to both of you?" I asked while keeping my chakra control in check for my **Mystic Palm Technique**.

Turtle looked at me, and stated pantingly, "Explosion release…legs…ran faster…" the man's eyes rolled to the back of his head and I had to wonder if he was going to be ok.

My teacher snickered and I turned back to her, seeing her roll her eyes, "I've pretty much deciphered what he's been trying to say. I believe he faced an opponent with Explosion release who used it to accelerate and propel themselves much faster than any normal shinobi could usually move. Probably through releasing explosions from their legs in miniature but powerful bursts to up their speed. He/she probably exhausted Turtle with a long-winded game of cat and Mouse and he burned up his chakra and stamina with continued use of his swift release."

"…you got all that from 5 words?" I was wondering if I should be impressed.

She merely smirked in reply before looking at me, "And what about you? Aside from the hole in your shirt, you don't look so bad. Good on you kid."

I looked down on my shirt and realized that Rei's Explosion release punch must have blown a hole in my shirt when it blew open my stomach…which made sense. "…No, my opponent also had Explosion release and blew my stomach open."

Kotoe suddenly froze up and looked at me seriously, "Are we going to have to have a talk about this?"

"…I blew him up with over a thousand Explosion tags."

"I suppose not then."

With that, we lapsed into silence as I continued doing my best to heal her wounds. I noted that Turtle had lapsed into sleep due to his low CP and Stamina levels but he was otherwise fine.

I then looked at Kotoe and observed her status as I continued to heal her.

* * *

 **Name: Kotoe**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: Lvl 72**

 **HP: 38636/65000**

 **CP: 10747/46080**

 **STR: 675**

 **VIT: 650**

 **DEX: 625**

 **INT: 665**

 **WIS: 630**

 **ENGY: 640**

* * *

I nodded my head seeing that she was otherwise alright aside from her burns. I continued to heal her noting that she had closed her eyes, so I pulsed my chakra and made sure to keep myself alert.

" _I wonder if the other group has already flanked them…"_

The plan that Kusa and we had come up with was pretty simple. It involved a few teams sneak attacking the camp to draw the enemy shinobi out; another, much larger, group of teams flanking Iwa's position, as they chased the first team, in order to block off any path of retreat for them; and a final third team that would come up from the front effectively sandwiching the Iwa shinobi in between.

We had the elements of surprise and knowledge on our side, so there was a greater chance that the plan would work. With that thought, I made a clone and had it go outside to watch for any signals or enemies while I continued to heal up my teacher.

I thought through the battle that I had with that Kusa ninja and it made me realize something. It wasn't that 'stats weren't everything' Because that was false. If I faced someone like Madara or actually _any_ Kage Level shinobi or even high-level Jonins, I would get smacked around like a doll. The enemy I had faced was only around the level of a tokubetsu Jonin, but he had had a lot more chakra than usual. No, what I found important was that _how_ I used my skills and knowledge would decide my victory and defeat.

I couldn't say that the man was as smart as me even though we had the same **Intelligence** stat because **Intelligence** denoted much more than just knowledge, he was a seasoned shinobi who must have fought and killed much more than I had. Just the fact that I was able to plan ahead of him gave me the edge I needed to win in addition to the fact that he had slightly let his guard down at the end. I needed to learn from his mistakes and make sure that I did not make the same ones in the future. You didn't have to go through angst-ridden drama filled failure in order to learn a lesson and grow. As human beings, we were capable of learning and internalizing information simply from observation.

I was broken from my muse when I heard the loud sound of a signal flare and no sooner did my clone pop, sending me the information that it had seen a blue signal flare light up the sky.

" _Thank goodness it is over…"_ I thought when I received the images. The blue signal flare was the signal that we had successfully captured and/or defeated the opposition and had secured their base of operations. With this, I could safely traverse back to our rooms, so I made a few clones and had them carry Kotoe and Turtle while making one more clone to scout ahead.

There were no more disruptions along the way, so it barely took any time for my clones and me to make it back inside Kusa's village gates. I had my clones place Turtle on the couch while I took my teacher back to my room. Since shinobi were extremely cautious and suspicious, Turtle and Kotoe had told me that they had locked and booby-trapped their rooms, so I could only do this for them for now.

After I entered my room I placed Kotoe on the bed and laid down in the bed, but before I dozed off, I checked my progress for today.

 **Post-Battle Progress Report**

 _ **Congratulations, [Mystic Palm Technique] has leveled up by 3!**_

 _ **Congratulations, [Illusion Mastery] has leveled up by 2!**_

 _ **Congratulations, [Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu] has leveled up by 1!**_

 _ **Congratulations, you have gained 72,700 EXP!**_

 _ **You have leveled up by 1!**_

I suppose that the traps my clones had set up as I was escaping had managed to defeat a few of the enemy ninjas. Regardless, I was exhausted, so after giving the progress report a once over, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

 **If any of you haven't read Amorphis760's** _ **The Root of Darkness**_ **, then I highly HIGHLY recommend that you check it out. It's one of my favorite gamer stories on the site with more realistic depictions of shinobi life in Naruto without feeling too alien to the actual source material. I love its characters and especially the MC who is morally grey (my favorite kind of MC)**

 **Next important thing, (Since I keep forgetting to write this) I want to let you guys know (if you somehow haven't figured it out already) that my story is heavily inspired by Amorphis760's** _ **The Root of Darkness**_ **.**

 **That being said, the missions and overall experiences that shape my MC will be different than the ones Amorphis had his MC go through, except for one mission that is similar but also different (that's later down the line). I try not to copy all his plot points and if I do I put my own spin on it and have different events occur.**

 **Anyway, how did you guys like the fight and the chapter? I tried to incorporate some sound strategy into the battles and not just 'I punched' 'He dodged' 'I countered his attack' etc. I readily admit that I am not the best when it comes to creating creative and very deep plans, but I tried my best. Anyway, till next time.**

 **(P.S. A personal pet peeve of mine is when I read a story where the MC only learns a lesson [a minor one mind you, like not hesitating to kill someone] only** _ **after**_ **someone important to them either gets hurt or dies. That really grates me)**


	8. Chapter 8

Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

The days came and left until eventually a week and a half passed by since the successful ambush of the Iwa shinobi stationed at the Volcano. Due to that, Iwa had been successfully demoralized enough from their losses that they scarcely made any attacks against Kusa's borders.

During this time, us Konoha shinobi had been taking it slightly easier as well since our resident sensor had been recuperating from her wounds. Other than that-

"I can finally go home!" Shark said with a grin as he frantically waved his stump. We were all currently located in the usual first-floor living space of our large, Kusa granted, complex. What was important, however, was the fact that there were many more Konoha shinobi here than there had been before.

Reinforcements had started arriving a couple days ago in separate, but large, groups indicating that Konoha had finally figured out where and how to position its manpower. This was great for the three teams of ninjas that had already been here because it meant our mission was complete. The previously arrived Konoha team leaders (Dove, Wolf, and Boar) were convening with the recently arrived team leaders and exchanging information while the rest of us were packing up and lounging around till they were done.

Shark wrapped his arm around my shoulder and sighed. "Your first completed mission kid, how do you feel?"

"…alright I suppose." I replied blandly.

I stared at the man, more in particular the stump he had for a right arm. The man looked back at me and wiggled it around which got my attention, "I told you to stop looking so sorry for me, a lost arm is nothing new in this business you know. I'll survive."

I returned my gaze back to his stump before shaking my head, "…No, it's not that. It's just…I don't really understand."

The man raised his brows and asked speculatively, "What exactly?"

I thought for a moment before replying, "…I can't understand how chakra can allow a man like the 1st Hokage to subdue the tailed beasts yet, it can't simply give someone back a lost limb? The First used _trees_ to take down the _nine-tails_ but we haven't found a way to heal lost _limbs_?"

The man actually put on a thoughtful expression before shrugging, "I guess that's just how it is, what can you do?"

"Find a solution." I said simply.

Shark suddenly froze before staring at me, "W-what?"

I turned my gaze away from his stump and reiterated, "If there's currently no way to regrow a lost limb using medical ninjutsu, then I'll just have to find a way how."

The man took a deep breath before gripping his left fist and staring at me stubbornly, "Why?"

I thought about his question and it only took me a moment to understand. "…when I saw your wounds, the first thought that I had going through my mind was 'What if someone _I_ cared for was in your position?' and I realized that I didn't want to even think about such a situation. The best way for me to do that would be to make such a situation obsolete and the only way to do _that_ would be to find a way to fix it. I'll be honest in saying that I'm not doing this for you, but at the same token, you're the reason I am deciding to do this. _When_ I am finished researching how to regrow lost limbs through medical ninjutsu, I will help you get yours back."

The man stared at my face stubbornly before turning away. "…whatever kid, do what you want."

I simply rolled my eyes and smiled under my face mask. " _Who knew he was such a tsundere."_

The rest of my time here was spent in relative silence and peace until Dove came back and informed me to pack up and get going. I gathered everything I had in my inventory and met up with Dove and eventually I arrived at the village exit. The other teams were also there with Boar looking around for a little bit before nodding his head, "Alright since we are all here, let's move out."

* * *

The travel back to the village was relatively calm and not much really happened. It took us a little over a day to get back and now we were all at the village entrance.

"Man it's good to be back…" Shark said tiredly as we all stepped into the village walls after passing through the guards.

The rest of us murmured our agreements before Wolf stated, "While that's true, we still have to check in with Lord Danzo and Lord Hokage about our mission results. The security of Kusa's border is of the utmost importance after all."

Shark groaned and though I didn't show it, I felt the same as well. This mission had been mentally exhausting and right now I didn't want to have to deal with anything else.

Unfortunately, duty called

With that, we hopped up on the rooftops and caught up with the others who had gone on ahead. In no time, we made it to the Hokage tower where we had to wait for a few moments before we were allowed to enter the Hokage's office. I just now realized that this would be the first time I had ever seen the 3rd Hokage up close and I had to say that it was definitely an interesting experience.

Inside the room was not only the Hokage but also Danzo as well and no doubt there were some ANBU hidden inside the room as well. I took all this in while looking at the old man carefully and I couldn't help but want to observe him, so I did.

' _Observe'_

 **Name: Hiruzen Sarutobi**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: 280**

 **HP: ?**

 **CP: ?**

 **STR: ?**

 **VIT: ?**

 **DEX: ?**

 **INT: ?**

 **WIS: ?**

 **ENGY: ?**

I had to call upon the full force of **Gamer's Mind** to keep my expression in check, yet that didn't stop cold sweat from forming on my back. " _He's strong…"_ was the only coherent thought I could form in my mind. As a result, I was immensely thankful when I was brought back by the booming sound of Boar's voice.

"Lord Hokage, the mission to guard the border between Kusagakura and Iwagakure and collect intel about Kusa's security was a success! Please instruct us further!" The man said with the utmost professionalism.

The Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, interlocked his fingers and gazed at each and everyone one of us, but I swore he looked at me a second longer. He returned his gaze back to Boar and replied, "Very well done. I had already received a scroll from Kusa complimenting all of your skills and abilities throughout these last few weeks. They were immensely thankful for your aid and if not for the fact that you were there to aid them, they may have been out in dire straits from Iwa's nefarious schemes. Thank you for your service to this village."

Boar hastily bowed, to which everyone else followed before the Hokage continued, "Now please rise. As per usual, your mission pay will be directly deposited in your accounts and there will be reimbursements for those who suffered more permanent debilitative injuries. You are all dismissed, however, I would like to have a word with Kotoe and her charge.

""Yes Lord Hokage!"" We chorused before everyone left except Turtle, Kotoe and I. Turtle gave us a smile and waved at us before he left as well leaving Kotoe and me as the last two individuals here.

Hiruzen scanned me up and down before humming thoughtfully "So this is the boy you talked about Danzo?"

The bandaged man nodded his head, "Yes old friend, he's very intelligent for his age and Kotoe's reports on his level of improvement further exemplify his level of skill and strength. I would say more, but I'm not the most suitable to do so."

The Hokage nodded his head and looked at my teacher before instructing her to proceed. "Yes Lord Hokage, Yoru has shown incredible skills in combat and has obeyed all orders given to him without question. During our first night guarding Kusa, he was able to defeat 2 older chunin level fighters, killing one of them and capturing the other and for the next couple weeks, any skirmishes he fought in were all won. During the siege against Iwa's forces stationed at the volcano, Yoru was able to defeat a member of the explosion corps who had Jonin levels of chakra based on his description. Afterward, he met up and used his medical ninjutsu to heal me and our other colleague before safely transporting us back to base. Since then he has continued to perform excellently in the field and has never been neglectful in his duties."

It was honestly kind of weird when someone talked about you so positively even though you were right there. The third Hokage smiled lightly before sighing, "It is honestly regretful that we have to send children out in the front lines, however, I am pleased to hear about your sublime performance."

"...Thank you for your praise, Lord Hokage." I said with a bow. I couldn't break etiquette.

The man nodded his head before regarding me, "As a result of your performance, I can grant you a single request within reason of course."

I thought for a moment before shaking my head. There currently wasn't much that I needed and all the things that I did need could be provided by my teacher so there was no need to ask The Hokage anything.

The old man nodded his head at my response before turning to Kotoe. "What say you?"

That was more of an ending statement than a question, but Kotoe actually spoke up, "Actually Lord Hokage, if I may be so bold as to ask to speak to you, alone."

The Hokage looked at her deeply before nodding and looking at me, "Very well then, Yoru you are dismissed. Your mission payment will be given to your handler, but aside from that, congratulations on the completion of your first assignment."

 **Main Quest Complete!**

 **Secure The Borders!**

 **Reward: 500000 EXP, Skill Book**

 **You have leveled up by 1!**

 **You have leveled up by 1!**

 **You have leveled up by 1!**

 **You have leveled up by 1!**

 **You have leveled up by 1!**

 **Skill Book has been placed in your inventory!**

I bowed my head, "Thank you for your praise Lord Hokage." and with that, I left the building. I took a sigh as I thought about my first mission and wondered what I could do for the remainder of the day till Kotoe came back. I racked my brain for a moment before I came up with a simple plan of activities.

For starters, I needed to check up on Minato and Kushina to see if the baby had been born yet. I hoped it hadn't yet cause it would have really sucked miss it.

With that, I made my way over to the Namikaze/Uzumaki household with a simply Body Flicker. I arrived in front of their household door and knocked on it a few times. After about a moment, I heard the gears of the door unlocking before a mop of red hair made its way into view.

The owner of the hair looked down before smiling, "Yoru! I'm glad you're back, please come in." Kushina stated with a bright smile.

I nodded my head and looked at her stomach before making my way inside, "…thank you for your hospitality."

The woman in question rolled her eyes before replying, "You've got to stop being so uptight, we're no longer strangers, but enough of that. I'm glad you decided to drop by after coming back from your mission, tell me, how was it?"

"…I suppose it was alright." I stated as I sat down on a couch.

The woman scoffed as she sat down next to me, "I highly doubt it, the first mission any shinobi takes is usually his/her worst. Tell me, how are you coping with your first mission."

The way she said that made it seem like she already knew that I had taken a life, but I suppose it didn't take much to infer that point. I lightly shook my head and replied, "I'm fine."

Before I knew it, Kushina wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug to her side.

"…This is unnecessary."

"Oh hush you"

And with that, we lapsed into silence. Eventually, the red-haired woman let me go which allowed me to ask, "Is Mr. Namikaze not around?"

Kushina's expression suddenly changed as shadows covered her eyes and her hair started to flail wildly in 9 parts. "That little…he has been avoiding me with every excuse he could make up. He's in the training ground right now 'training' his team, but I know he's just there to get away from me. If I wasn't 10 months pregnant…!" She gnashed her teeth in anger.

I looked up to her and asked curiously, "Why would he want to stay away from you though? You are an incredible woman-UGH!"

I suddenly found myself in a vice-grip hug with Kushina rubbing her cheeks against mine, her previously angry expression suddenly gone. "Ohh Yoru! You're so sweet! I can only hope my baby learns from you!" Suddenly she released me and looked at my face seriously, "You're going to take care of my baby girl alright?" She asked as she tightly gripped my shoulders.

The force of her hands was so much that I felt like my bones will break, so I hastily nodded my head in agreement. The woman's serious face disappeared in an instant, replaced with a genuine smile, "That's good then! Make sure you teach her properly."

" _I think I know why he stayed away…"_

Suddenly she froze up and looked at me intently, "Yoru…"

An unholy premonition washed over me which was promptly answered as she stated calmly, "…My water broke."

"… _ohh fuck me."_

I instantly created a shadow clone and had it shunshin to the training grounds to get Minato. While my memories were screwed up, I remembered that Kushina was the Nine-tails Jinchuuriki which meant that at this moment her seal was at its weakest.

She looked at me with a strained smile as she held her stomach, "…This was actually faster than expected, but it a good thing we already prepared contingencies for something like this-"

"Kushina!" A voice yelled as Minato slammed open the door to his house and entered, my clone in tow.

" _That was fast…"_ I thought, but when my clone dispelled I understood why he had been able to get Minato here so quickly. All he had to do was say the words ' _Her Water broke'_ and Minato Body Flickered here so fast, it was as if he had already recreated the flying thunder god technique.

While my musings happened nearly instantaneously, Minato had already created a clone and sent it off, probably to tell the Hokage or something, before he held his wife's hand and looked at me with sweat dripping from his brows. "Thank you so much Yoru, but I'll have to move Kushina someplace else. In the meantime, you can stay here and wait for us to come back."

And without even waiting for my reply, he disappeared.

Huh.

I shrugged and sat down on the couch with my mind running through a few things. For one I always forgot to look at Minato and Kushina's Level, but I suppose since I could see them every day there wasn't really any need to rush.

Afterward, I remembered that I had gotten a skill book as a reward for the mission so I opened my inventory and looked through it for a moment before finding what I wanted. With a mental click, a scroll appeared in front of me and I scrutinized it.

I wondered what was inside the skill books given to me by my doppelgänger? My curiosity got the best of me so I opened the scroll…and promptly closed it shut.

" _Ugh…What was that?"_ I thought as my head throbbed severely. When I had opened the scroll, all I remember seeing were a bunch of extremely complex mathematical equations, diagrams, and algorithms that my brain could not even begin to process. It immediately caused me a headache, so I decided to forgo that endeavor and just learn the skill the 'Old fashion way'.

 **Would you like to learn the Skill [ID: Create]?**

 **Y/N**

 **Would you like to learn the skill [ID: Escape]?**

 **Y/N**

" _I suppose that if I were to actually try and create these skills myself, I would probably have to understand those equations…"_ I shook my head and simply pressed **Y** for both prompts. Immediately, the scroll turned into dots of light which floated and entered my cranium, giving me the knowledge about how to operate these two skills.

 **Congratulations, you have learned the skill [ID: Create]!**

 **Congratulations, you have learned the skill [ID: Escape]!**

 **ID: Create (Active) Lvl 1 [00.00%]**

 **ID: Create is used to create instant dungeons. Instant dungeons are 'mirrors' of the real world that you can travel and train. Since they are mirrors of the actual world when you exit the ID, you'll find yourself in the same area you were at in the ID. Stronger instant dungeons may be created at higher levels.**

 **Available Instant Dungeons:**

 **Empty ID [Monsters: None]**

 **Zombie ID [Monsters: Zombies]**

 **Cost: 200 CP**

 **ID: Escape (Active) Lvl 1 [00.00%]**

 **ID: Escape is used to escape instant dungeons.**

" _These skills…"_ Obviously, leveling up against zombies and getting potential rare drops was great and all, but all leveling did for me was give me stat points to use and I could just as easily train my skills with shadow clones. I honestly would get better increases in strength through training, but I would have to find a more effective way to train since my regular routine was becoming less and less effective.

Anyways, for me, this skill was a hidden card in hand that I could use to escape from battles and sneak attack enemies. I could even go inside Iwa right now and walk into their Tsuchikage's building without getting caught, though once I left the **ID** , I would probably be immediately killed.

Regardless, this ability was immensely useful even if I wasn't going to use it for its typical purpose. With that all said and done, I continued to laze in the couch while thinking about other things, like how I would go about regrowing a lost limb using Medical Ninjutsu.

To be honest, I had already considered an avenue to explore for this dilemma, one which had been marinating in my mind for some time.

Natural Energy.

It was all around us and extremely powerful, but most importantly, it increased the strength of techniques by a good margin. What if I could incorporate natural energy into something like the **Mystic Palm Technique** to increase its effectiveness? The only issue was finding out how to incorporate it into my techniques without turning myself or others into stone…Well, I would have to worry about that once I could actually start sensing the stuff.

And like that time passed by, my mind wandering in all directions. When I was in the deepest recesses of my thoughts, a voice called out to me.

"…Yoru."

My eyes snapped open to see the smiling yet tired and defeated looking Minato Namikaze. "…Mr. Namikaze."

The man panted lightly before replying, "We'll work on having you call me Minato, but for now I'm just here to let you know that Mito Uzumaki-Namikaze has been born."

I raised a brow. " _Huh…no Naruto…oh well."_ I looked him up and down before asking, "And you came all the way here to tell me that?"

The man chuckled before shaking his head, "No I'm just a clone, the real me is in some emotional turmoil so to speak."

Well, that got me curious, "May I ask why? I thought that the birth of your child would be purely a joyous occasion."

The clone Minato strained a smile, "Normally that would be the case…if it had been a boy."

" _Ahh yeah that's right, they had that bet…"_ While in this era boys were preferred to girls, Minato wasn't that type of man…at least I didn't think he was. The main issue was that Kushina and Minato had made a bet a few weeks back, before I left for my mission, about what gender the baby would be when it was born. I didn't hear what Kushina had told Minato she would do if he won and the baby was a boy, but that didn't matter since the baby turned out to be a girl.

I looked at Minato plainly, "…so you're upset that you're going to have to be on night duty every night when you are home."

The man nodded in exhaustion, "Trust me Yoru when you have a child, you will understand how horrific night duty is."

"…Right."

Minato sighed, "I guess you're too young, but that's not the only reason I am here. Both my original and our Wife are currently at Konoha Hospital and since we are like family, we thought you would like to see the baby."

My eyes widened slightly before I nodded my head. Minato clone smiled at me before taking my hand and leading me to the entrance of the Hospital in a shunshin. We walked in and checked in with the staff before he lead me to a hospital room door.

"Well, this is where my job ends. Just a heads up though, the Hokage is inside so make sure to be polite before you enter."

I nodded my head in thanks, to which the clone smiled and 'poofed' out of existence. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door before waiting for a response and just a few moments later I got my affirmation.

"Come in!"

I noted that it was Minato's voice, but he probably knew it was me cause of the shadow clone. "…excuse me, I'm coming in." I said as I opened the door, noting 4 inhabitants: Hiruzen, Minato, Kushina, and a little creature cuddled up in Kushina's arms.

They obviously noted me as well with the Hokage giving me a light smile and nodding before turning back to Kushina and stating, "Well that is what she suggested, so what do you think about it? Feel free to take a little bit to think about it, after all, you've just given birth and this might impact your maternal duties."

"Is that even a question?" Kushina replied before she looked at me with a bright smile, "Of course I agree to that proposal and it doesn't really affect me too much either. My area of expertise won't require physical effort to teach so it won't impact my duties much at all."

The old Hokage smiled lightly, "Then that's good. I'll let her know that you agreed. I am glad for your safe delivery, so please do cherish your child."

"Of course Lord Hokage." Minato replied with a smile, "We'll always cherish her."

The old man smiled and walked out the room leaving me there with the small family.

"Well? What are you standing there for? Come over here." Kushina stated, motioning for me to come towards her.

I did as asked and looked at the baby, so innocent and so cute, I couldn't help but gently caress her cheeks with my finger. "…She's pretty."

"She is isn't she?" Kushina stated, looking at her daughter lovingly. "Make sure you take care of her well, she's like your little sister, ya know?"

I nodded my head, "…Of course"

And like that we lapsed into a short silence, watching the baby slumber peacefully. It only lasted a moment, however, as I thought about the conversation they had earlier, "…if you don't mind me asking, what was the Hokage talking to you about? Of course, if it's confidential then I understand."

Kushina's shook her head, "No, nothing of the sort. As a matter of fact, it has to do with you." At my raised brow, she continued, "Kotoe had notified the Hokage about your unique Bloodline and about how you don't need sleep to function as a result."

" _Is that what she talked to him about when I left…?"_

Kushina, of course, couldn't hear my thoughts, so she continued, "She convinced the Hokage that you would benefit from a double partnership of me and her teaching you. She could teach you in the early mornings and I at night and it even works out well since I'll be up at night with this little rascal anyway." She finished, cooing at her baby.

My eyes widened at her statement, however, "Wait you mean…"

"Yep! I'll be your second instructor primarily focusing on Fuuinjutsu. Kotoe has stated that your calligraphy has been coming along perfectly and the few you've shown us has convinced me that you may actually be able to go far in his art. From now on you can call me Kushina-sensei! You know I've never had a Genin team before so I've never been called that ya know!"

I looked deeply at Kushina before bowing, "…Thank you."

My body suddenly found itself in Kushina's embrace as she chuckled, "There's no need to be so formal, we're like family after all."

"She's right." Minato stated, remaking his presence known, "We all are family, so you don't have to thank us for something like this." I nodded to which he patted my head before sighing, "I wish I could stay here for a bit longer, but I kinda left my team hanging in the forest…"

I dosed a brow, "You didn't send a clone to get them?"

"No, I did, but…" the man rubbed his forehead, "Kakashi didn't want to come because he felt that this was a 'family Moment'. Because of that, Rin decided she didn't want to come and because of _that_ Obito decided _he_ didn't want to either, so now they're just at the training grounds waiting for me."

I looked at him blankly, "…I see."

Minato looked helpless, but he soon smiled and kissed his newborn daughter before doing the same to Kushina and leaving the room. I lapsed into another round of silence as I idly played with the baby before Kushina spoke up, "You know, you should get back to your apartment. I'm sure Kotoe would like to talk to you about our partnership."

I nodded my head but looked at her and newborn Mito before Kushina rolled her eyes, "Go. I'll be fine by myself for a little bit."

I took a light breath before hugging her once more, "Thank you for everything." Before she could even move to scold me about thanking her, I quickly walked out the door and Body Flickered back home. I pulsed my chakra, sensing a presence inside the apartment, so I walked in.

"Ahh Yoru, you're back." Kotoe stated from the small living room table as she placed groceries on it. "You know, it's been a while since I've had a taste of your cooking, all preserved food we usually eat on missions gets old real fast and they don't even taste good." She hadn't turned around to confirm if she was really speaking to me, but I supposed that being such a good sensor had its perks.

I walked up to the woman and gave her a hug, "Thanks for everything." Honestly, displays of affection made me feel kind of weird, but I was truthfully very grateful towards all of them and this was the only way I knew how to show it.

Kotoe's body slightly froze and she turned around awkwardly in order to pat my head, "I know how much you want to get stronger, so I will do whatever I can in helping you with that goal. Who knows? One day I might need to be saved and all the effort I put into helping you grow will allow you to rescue me."

"...Don't talk about such a cliche scenario."

My teacher laughed as I released her from my hold, "Alright kid I won't, but what I _will_ talk about it how much I want your cooking." She stated with a wink.

I looked at her plainly before replying, "...sure."

And so for the remainder of the day, I relaxed with my teacher at home and gracing her with my incredible cooking skills. It was the first relaxing day I had had in a while and I cherished every moment of it.

* * *

4 days passed since Mito Uzumaki-Namikaze birth with Kushina staying in the hospital for around 2 of those days. For the most part, I had slowly gotten back into my schedule for training with Kotoe and since Kushina was out of the hospital, this would be the first night I would spend learning from her.

So here I was in front of Minato and Kushina's home about to learn Fuuinjutsu from the master herself. Kotoe had let me go earlier than usual probably due to that fact.

I placed my hand on the side of the door and flared my chakra which rewarded me with a 'click' as the door unlocked and opened for me. " _Seals sure are convenient…"_ I thought as I made my way inside the house, but I noticed that the house was dark…why did this feel familiar?

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

The lights suddenly came on and before my eyes were the figures of…Kushina and baby Mito. "I know that it's not as lively as the last one, but I figured this would be the best way to start your apprenticeship. Now come on! I've got something for you."

Without even waiting for me to reply, she walked deeper into the house and I followed her until she reached the living room where she stopped. "I have a 'gift' for you, but it is also going to be your first step in learning Fuuinjutsu."

"…That sounds more like homework than an actual gift."

"Hush, now here you go!" And with a snap of her fingers, a large book 'puffed' into her hands. Seeing my raised brow she grinned, "Storage seal on the hands. Pretty simple stuff once you know how to do it and I'll make sure you do. The first step to doing that, however, is to memorize everything in this book." There was a nostalgic smile on her face as she looked at it and now that I paid attention, I noticed it was kind of worn out as well, "This was a gift given to me by the leader of my clan before I moved here, and unfortunately it's the only physical remnant of them that I have left."

I stayed silent at that as I didn't know what else to say, before Kushina shook her head, "Anyway, just make sure you know _every_ single detail about this book like the back of your hand. If not, I won't be able to teach you anything."

I took the book from her hand and flipped through it quickly just to get a glimpse of it and noted that it had s good amount of information: pictures and descriptions of a multitude of common seals, explanations about the variety of brush strokes and each of their applications and an in-depth analysis about the applications of chakra in seal making. It was an encyclopedia of seal making knowledge that seemed to cover all of the theoretical aspects of Fuuinjutsu.

Also as a result, when I said it was large, I meant _LARGE_.

I looked back at Kushina blandly and she replied with a shrug, "We all had to go through it at some point so you better start now, it's not going to read itself you know?"

"…I suppose not." I said as I placed the book down on the floor and sat down to read. I felt Kushina's pat my head before she left me, parting with a few words.

"Have Fun!"

I lightly sighed but focused on the task at hand. To be honest, I wasn't worried about being unable to retain all this information since I had **Eidetic Memory**. It would literally just be a matter of time and I was actually very interested in the world of Fuuinjutsu, I mean you could summon a _Death god_ with this stuff. What couldn't it do?

With my stats that were far above a normal human being's, it wouldn't actually take long for me to finish reading the book, a few hours at most. I suppose Kushina expected me to take a while to memorize all the information, but that was a non-issue so I continued to read the book.

As I delved deeper into the literature, I had to admit that the concepts about Fuuinjutsu were fascinating, but also made this craft dangerous. The slightest error in a stroke, no more than even a millimeter, could cause an entirely different effect to occur, according to the book at least.

There was also the fact that you had to input the right amount of chakra into each stroke for the desired effect. Too much or too little chakra at worst would cause the seal to blow up in your face and at best the seal would be dysfunctional. Not only that, you had to pay attention to the amount of ink you use per inscription as well.

There were so many little rules and tidbits to remembers that it was no wonder Kushina simply left me here alone, any normal man would have taken weeks to remember all this information.

Fortunately, I wasn't any normal man.

I wasn't even a man.

I was 6...

As soon as I finished reading the book after around 4 or so hours, I closed it and shut my eyes before shifting through the information. A barely noticeable smile donned my lips as all the information I had read through was easily recallable and could be grasped at any moment.

 **Eidetic Memory** was such a cheat.

I carefully picked up the book and closed it before making my way towards were Kushina was. There she was, in the kitchen, cradling a sleeping Mito in her arms with a smile on her face. Without even turning towards me, she asked quietly, "Is there anything wrong Yoru? You stuck on something?"

I looked at the adorable red-haired creature in her arms before shaking my head. "…No there's nothing wrong, I've just finished."

Kushina immediately stopped cradling the baby as she turned to look at me closely, "Finished?"

I nodded my head, "…Yes, I've finished memorizing the book. I have an eidetic memory so I don't forget anything I see." I explained to her.

I could see her expression change a couple times ever so subtly: from amazement to pride, then to envy and annoyance before she looked at me sharply, "What are the Kanji of elements that compose the Five Elements Seal And Unseal?"

I immediately replied, "The elements used are more symbolic than anything as the seal formula can differ from person to person. The most 'commonly' seen kind of Five Element Seals use either the _Five Movements_

Metal (金),

Wood (木),

Water (水),

Fire (火),

and Earth (土).

Or the _Five Greats_ (五大, Godai):

Earth (土)

Water (水)

Fire (火)

Wind (風)

and Lightning (雷).

However, even though I say 'common' it takes an incredible deal of skill to learn and master the skill so it really isn't seen much at all."

Kushina looked at me deeply before asking another question, "What are the recommended thickness levels of the symbols used for the Enclosing Seal?"

"2.5 mm in thickness."

"And how many symbols do you create?"

"It depends on the size of the object you want to store, but it usually amounts to 6-10 symbols with more symbols used the larger the object."

She paused for a moment, probably thinking of some random question to ask before she finally did, "How much ink is needed to create an explosive tag with a blast radius of 3 meters?"

I barely had to think before I replied. "Generally speaking the amount of ink needed for that would be close to 3 mL, but that could differ depending on the skill level of the seal master his/herself."

"And say I wanted to blow up a town with a single explosive tag, would that be possible?"

I shook my head. "It takes approximately 1 mL of ink to create an explosive tag with a 1 meter blast radius so theoretically it is possible to create one with a 1000 meter blast radius or more, however, you would not only need approximately a liter of ink, but you would also need paper durable enough to handle all that moisture without tearing. That's not even mentioning the amount of time and skill that would have to go into making such a seal due to the fact that every stroke would have to be perfect and having to use all that ink would drastically increase the likelihood of error, rendering all the previous efforts null as you would have to restart the production of the seal if a mistake were to occur. Theoretically, it would be possible, but realistically speaking, it would be highly improbable. It would be more effective to just pack thousands of explosive tags."

Kushina sighed deeply and looked at me with pursed lips, "And you say you don't want people to call you a genius, but if you aren't a genius then almost no one is qualified to be so."

"I don't deny that I have natural abilities that place me above most others." I started. "But I prefer to think that I worked for all my skills and that they weren't just 'installed' into me. After all, it's not like the knowledge in this book suddenly appeared in my head as I still had to read through the text."

I conveniently ignored the fact that I literally learned many skills that way.

Kushina looked at me with a smile, "It's so cute when you get all defensive." She stated, rubbing my head.

"…I'm not defensive."

Kushina rolled her eyes before putting on a thoughtful expression. "I really didn't prepare anything else since I thought this would take you a while…" She then sighed, "I suppose I can come up with something for tomorrow, but for now I guess you can do…something?"

She seemed kind of troubled that she had nothing for me, so I asked her, "Mr. Namikaze is still on that mission correct?"

Abruptly, her expression darkened and her hair began to flail wildly in 9 parts, "That man…! The first night he's supposed to have night duty and he suddenly decides to take a mission?! When he comes back…" She muttered a bunch of phrases inappropriate for children before she calmed down and looked at me, "…Yes, he's still out and I have no idea when he's coming back." She grit her teeth at that last part.

"…I see." I stated before looking at the sleeping form of Mito, "Since you don't have anything more for me to do, I can look after her for the night if you wish. I don't really need sleep after all, so I won't mind."

Kushina's eyes widened before her expression softened and she scooped me up in a constricting hug, "Oh, You're so sweet Yoru-kun! So much more dependable than that lazy bastard who runs away from his responsibilities!" Her free arm contradicted tighter against me.

"…This is unnecessary."

"Oh hush you. Now if only my daughter can grow up to be like you…" she sighed before smiling and letting me go before carefully placing her daughter in my care. "I trust that you'll take care of her and if she's hungry, there's her milk in the fridge. Now I can finally get some sleep…" she yawned as she stood up, stretched and walked to her room leaving me with her adorable child.

" _I'm glad she places so much trust in me…"_ I thought as I cradled the baby. Her adorable rosy cheeks and beautiful shirt red hair…I couldn't resist rubbing her face and hair with my finger. "…I'm going to dote on you so much."

Let it be said that I loved adorable things...they were my weakness.

I went to the living room and sat down on the couch carefully as I did not want to wake the child. Now that I had some free time I decided to get a couple things out of the way. I was supposed to learn from Kushina for however long necessary then go back to Kotoe's place but I abruptly changed that, so I created a clone and had it let Kotoe know about my situation.

Next, I created another clone and had it go to Konoha's public library. It was currently 11:00 at night and Konoha's public library closed at 12:00. My plan was to have my clone read through all the books about chakra theory. It also had Eidetic Memory so all that information would be easily recalled by me once they dispelled. I needed to get as much information as possible so that I could try and improve upon my medical ninjutsu.

Finally, I created 14 more clones and had them go outside and practice my skills in the back of the Namikaze-Uzumaki compound. I needed to figure out if my theory about 100% chakra control was correct and the only way to do that was to practice my elemental skills until my Natural affinities reached level 100. I still only had my Water and Lightning skills, so I would have to ask my teacher for the other elemental skills to practice.

With that, I laid back into the couch while idly caressing the baby's face with my finger. I couldn't help but look up to the ceiling in thought.

" _This place…isn't so bad."_

* * *

 **A simple chapter with not much going on.**

 **Chapter 10 is the start of his next mission and is the beginning of the arc I had the most fun writing. Completely original and I really just had fun writing it so I can't wait to share it with you all. I hope you all will enjoy that arc as much as I did (10-12). Anyway, till next time.**


	9. Chapter 9

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

"It is possible for a powerful seal master to manifest Fuuinjutsu seals in the air and ground by molding their chakra in specific ways. However, this requires a not only mastery over seals as a whole but usually a medium to complete the effect. It is a skill you will be able to perfect down the road, so keep up at it." Kushina encouraged me with a smile and a pat on the head.

I nodded as I mentally took this information to heart. Time had flown by quickly in between training with Kotoe and Kushina, going on missions, and compiling all the information I had found in the library. Currently, I was in another nightly teaching session with Kushina who was imparting some tidbits of information about the intricacies of the advanced sealing arts.

I looked down on the blank piece of paper and placed my hand on it while molding my chakra. I forced the energy to move and bend to my desires and noticed how glowing blue symbols started to appear on the paper, spreading from my palm. My mind rapidly analyzed, reconfigured, and constructed the seal I wanted to create and its effects while simultaneously managing my flow of energy onto the blank slate.

Slowly the lines of fuuinjutsu script stopped spreading and a light drop of sweat formed on my forehead from the effort exhibited by my brain. I breathed out a large sigh and forced myself to stop as my head began to throb, but soon after I recovered an looked at my masterpiece.

"You really are…" Kushina started with a shake of her head as she examined the seal, "To be able to get this far only after a few weeks of practice when it usually takes years…" she grumbled and narrowed her eyes at my work, "Hmm, a 1.55mm thickness uniform throughout and layered in a triple column matrix…a synchronized algorithm to target the opponent's released energy…and pre-programmed to act on the creator's command with a runtime proportionate to the amount of chakra? or energy? absorbed…" Kushina nodded her head in appreciation, "I see…I can confidently decipher around 70% of that, but the rest would take me some time to understand. You mind explaining what exactly it is supposed to be?"

I looked down at my failed masterpiece before replying, "…It is supposed to target and absorb all the kinetic energy produced by the being that it is placed upon effectively paralyzing them. I was trying to improve upon the tradition immobilization seal due to the fact that it is quite easy to break through it with brute force, but unfortunately…" I mentally went through many variables and calculations before shaking my head, "I came up slightly short."

"Short you say…?" Kushina looked at the seal before she seemingly understood what I meant, "Ahh right, there's no stabilization array to control the influx of energy nor are the limiter seals completed, but still…" stabs red-haired woman gave me a large smile, "You did amazing Yoru."

"Thank you…Kushina." I replied awkwardly.

I could see her grin widen, "hehe, no need to look so awkward, I'm allowing you to call me that you know?"

"…Can I go back to calling you Mrs. Uzumaki?"

"Denied."

I sighed while Kushina looked triumphant for some reason, "Alright, it's about time you get yourself going, we're all set today. You really improve drastically you know? I can't say that I'm surprised, but I'm impressed nonetheless."

"Thank you for your praise." I said lightly as I stood up from the seiza position I had been sitting in on the ground. I looked back at Kushina who was standing up as well before I asked, "I take it that…Minato…is taking care of Mito tonight then?"

Kushina sneered, "Hehe, that man won't be able to run away from his responsibilities, so don't worry about Mito tonight." Her expression then softened, "You have no idea how thankful I am for your help in taking care of her in the past whenever Minato wasn't around. You've really been a great help for me and I appreciate that." She stated while gently patting my short white hair.

"Anytime Kushina…there's no need to be thankful, she's so cute that I don't mind anyway…"

Kushina raises a brow. "What was that?"

"…Hmm?"

She eyed me suspiciously before relenting, "Fine whatever. Since you don't want to tell me then shoo." She stated, waving me off.

I smiled underneath my face mask before stating, "Thanks for everything. Have a good night…Kushina." And with that, I left the house in a Body Flicker.

In no time, I appeared in front of the apartment and immediately entered the building. The interior of the home was dimly lit, the full moon radiating its light through the living room windows.

As soon as I opened the door to the bedroom, my **Detect Danger** pinged softly, warning me of an incoming projectile heading for my face. I lazily raised my hand and deftly snagged the Kunai from mid-air before twirling it on my fingers.

"Really Yoru, can't you knock or something?" Kotoe said with a yawn as she leaned up from her napping position while rubbing her eyes. The moonlight shining from the small window above the bed allowed mewwe to see the bedsheets slide down from her body, providing me with an uncensored view of her toned, well proportioned and well endowed upper body. Well, it wasn't like I hadn't already seen it like a thousand times already.

"…The result would have been the same." I replied blandly while closing the door behind me. "You wouldn't have moved to open the door and I would have to come in regardless. The trap would still trigger and attack me."

I could see her roll her eyes, "Whatever, just come to bed and sleep or something. Not everyone can survive without sleep you know." She yawned tiredly at the end before slumping back to her bed.

I shrugged and removed my shinobi sandals before slipping into bed.

Sometimes, I lamented the fact that I was only 6 and a half.

" _Ohh well, time always flows forward…"_ and with that thought, I went to sleep.

* * *

"Thank you so much for your help little Yoru. Our workload always decreases substantially when you come here to help." The Medic-nin said to me as I focused on stabilizing the wounds on one of the returnee shinobi.

My focus never left the injured man as I replied softly, "...I'm glad to be of service, you don't have to thank me. This helps me train my **Mystic Palm Technique** further to perfection anyway."

The medic-nin smiled while rubbing my head, "Oh, you're so adorable Yoru! Who doesn't know that your mystic palm technique is the strongest of any staff here?"

"..."

"Well, keep up the good work, I have to go check up on the others. Don't be ashamed to take a break when you feel exhausted ok? You're already overtaxing yourself with the number of shadow clones you are deploying."

"...Sure."

The beautiful Medic-nin lady gave me a smile and began to walk away. It was currently Saturday and I was at Konoha Hospital helping the staff take care of the influx of injured personnel as best as I could. This hospital was the place where I learned the **Mystic Palm Technique** and as result, I felt the need to repay them for their kindness and devotion in teaching me. The effects of the war were already visibly evident as the amount of injured being sent into the Hospital had begun to strain the staff, so I did what I could to help which mainly included me sending clones off everywhere.

As I finished up the treatment of the individual, my hands began to stop glowing in their light green hue and I watched as the expression on the shinobi's face became much laxer. With a nod, I stood up and rolled my shoulder before looking around to see if there were any more individuals who needed my attention. Suddenly, however, my vision stopped roaming as I gazed upon the familiar back of a brown-haired figure.

" _Is that…?"_ I thought as I began to walk towards her. As I stood beside her, I noted how serious her countenance was as she administered first aid to the injured Shinobi she was with.

A small bead of sweat traveled down her face as she utilized the Mystic Palm technique to quickly heal the injured man's wounds. After a few moments, she wiped away the sweat before smiling, "There, that should do it!"

I looked at her before calling her softly, "...Rin."

He body immediately seized before she stood up and turned around, looking at me with a surprised expression on her face, "Ah Yoru! You're here!"

I nodded my head, "I'm always here on the weekend."

Rin scratched the back of her head sheepishly, "ah, sometimes I forget that even though I see you here every week..." She shook her head before she began to walk ahead, a smile on her face, "Well, are you ready for today's session!"

"...Today is you and me versus Obito and Kakashi correct?" I asked, though I already knew the answer of course.

"Yep!" she replied cheerily before settling down and continuing, "But first, I'd like to help out here a little longer if that's alright."

I nodded and replied quietly, "Of course, I too will help out as much as possible."

I could see the woman smile in reply to my response before she continued her walk around the hospital, looking for and helping any patients that needed care or nurses that needed help. I followed her as well and did my part in healing the injured while occasionally re-creating clones to replace the ones that had exhausted themselves. Rin and I continued this for a few more hours until the hospital staff was finally able to manage the influx of patients.

We exited the building soon after and headed towards the Namikaze-Uzumaki Estate prompting Rin to comment ecstatically, "I can't wait to see baby Mito again! She's so adorable I could just pinch her soft cheeks and play with her all day!"

"She is quite adorable." I stated a light smile on my face. "I can't wait to see her either."

"Right?!" Rin stated brightly as we eventually came upon the building. The brown haired girl looked back at me with a smile as she approached the door, "Come on, let's see if the other two are here yet." She placed a hand on the side of it and flared her chakra as the door opened up soon after.

We entered the house and walked towards the common room of the large home, noting that Kakashi and Obito were laying about, the former sharpening his kunai and the latter wiping his orange goggles. They stopped what they were doing as they saw our figures, Kakashi giving us a once over, "...You're late." he stated blandly.

"Ah sorry Kakashi, the Hospital was very busy today so Yoru and I kind of got caught up in it all…" The short-haired girl replied.

Obito slipped on his goggles before leveling a hard glare at Kakashi, "Oi, Kakashi! Rin was just doing her part to serve the village. I bet she helped out the most in healing our injured comrades!"

"Ah, no actually Yor-"

"Where are Minato and Kushina?" I asked, centralizing the attention towards me.

"Oi! Use honorifics dammit!"

I ignored the Uchiha in favor of the Hatake who glanced at me apathetically, "...Sensei said to meet him at the training grounds when you get here. As for his wife…" Kakashi put on a thoughtful expression before continuing, "...I think she left with the baby to run errands or something."

"That's unfortunate…" I started, somewhat mournfully, "I was looking forward to playing with Mito…"

"Oi, don't ignore me!"

I looked at Rin, "I suppose we'll have to wait till a little before seeing her."

The brown haired girl nodded with a sigh, "It's unfortunate, but she'll be back eventually so when we might have a chance to see her when we're done with today!" She stated, perking up at the end.

"You all are so mean…" Obito stated as a dark cloud hovered over his head and he poked the floor with a stick.

" _Wait, where did he even get that? We're indoors…"_

I shook my head from those thoughts before stating, "We should get a move on, I'm sure that Minato has been waiting for us."

"…I agree." Kakashi stated as he stood up and grabbed a startled Obito's shoulder. Before the Uchiha could voice our his complaints, the Silver-haired chunin disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

I looked at the place they occupied before turning my gaze towards Rin, "…Let's go."

"W-wait Yoru!"

Ignoring her pleas, I placed a hand on her shoulder and revitalized my body with chakra before traveling towards the training ground in a burst of high speed.

"…y-you're…s-so…m-mean…" Rin said in between pants as she tried to seemingly keep herself from throwing up.

"Oi!...y-you bastard…how could y-you…be so URRGH!" Obito vomited rainbows before he could finish his statement, all the while Kakashi looked disinterested standing beside him.

I gave a side glance to the duo before suddenly pulling out a kunai. I saw everyone tense at my action before I rapidly threw it towards my 1:00 causing the projectile to fly through the trees. I could hear it travel as it rustled many of the leaves in its path before it seemingly stopped with a 'thump'.

"Oi, what's the bright idea?!" Obito started heatedly as he wiped the vomit from his mouth, "You scared me man, that was totally uncalled for."

Instead of replying to him, however, I looked to the trees and spoke, "I'm assuming you tried to suppress your chakra in order to avoid my detection and that might have worked on me a couple months ago, however…" I paused, turning my head to look at my 11:00, "My sensory capabilities have evolved drastically, so that sort of maneuver won't work on me anymore."

 **Energy Resonance (Passive) LV 5 [5.45%]**

 **Energy Resonance is the evolved form of Chakra Sonar And is useful for the same purpose of detecting living beings with Energy and for scouting, effectively making the user a 'sensor'. Every living being radiated some form of energy which vibrates at certain unique frequencies which produces a 'resonance' with the surroundings that the user can sense. This skill increases in distance by 100 meters per level and costs no CP.**

 **MAXIMUM RANGE: (1500 meters)**

"Don't be so sure Yoru." A voice said behind me causing my eyes to widen.

I quickly turned around as a blond haired man placed a hand on my shoulders and couldn't help but comment, "How did you…?", however at that moment, the signature I had sensed at my 11:00 suddenly disappeared. " _That other signature was a Shadow Clone…"_ I thought intently. That still didn't explain how I missed his chakra signature though.

Minato smiled at me. "A good shinobi never reveals his secrets, but I'll give you a little hint." Minato stated, giving me a wink before he continued, "I was 'everywhere'."

I hummed thoughtfully for a few moments, during which Minato walked ahead and gave Kakashi a light pat on the shoulder before standing in front of all four of us: Me, Kakashi, Rin, and Obito.

I was broken from my muse as the blonde began to speak, "Yoru & Rin vs. Obito & Kakashi." Minato started, a grin framing his face, "Today's challenge will be to see which group can complete 10 laps around the village the quickest in under 30 minutes. The rules are that both you and your partner must complete the trail together and on your last lap, you are to come back to this spot. When this Kunai…" Minato said, pulling out the weapon from his pouch, "Hits the ground, that's your signal to start. Any questions?"

I narrowed my eyes at that innocent smiling face that Minato wore. There had to be much more to today's team exercise than he was giving on. "…I was led to believe that each challenge was to help foster bonds and promote cooperation between us as Konoha shinobi. How exactly does running laps achieve that?" I asked.

Minato beamed even brighter, "Well you know what they say 'You can't understand someone unless you've run 2400 km in their shoes'. Anything else?"

"… _I'm pretty sure that's not how it goes."_ I thought meanwhile noting how Obito and Rin shuddered from Minato's smile and even Kakashi looked slightly uneasy. It made me wonder if he was in a bad mood because he was definitely planning something nefarious. Maybe Kushina hadn't been giving him the time of day?

That would be hilarious.

"…W-well we still got this r-right Kakashi?" Obito stated in faux courage.

"…Hn."

"You're not filling me with confidence!"

"…"

"Oi! Say something!"

I enjoyed their antics for a moment before I felt a tug in my shirt.

"Hey…Minato-Sensei's acting weird, isn't he?" Rin asked me from behind.

I put on a thoughtful expression, "We'll see what he has planned eventually. Don't worry though, we should be able to win this if we play it right."

She nodded uneasily right before we all heard a 'clap' as Minato slapped his hands together, "Now then are you ready?."

I could see him smile as we all adopted serious expressions. "Alright then, here we go." With that said he threw his kunai in the air and time seemed to slow as we all watched it descend due to gravity. As it inched closer to the floor I tensed in preparation, however, the moment it touched the ground,

I knew something was wrong.

My vision suddenly swam as a wave of nausea slammed into my body and I suddenly felt a cold sweat coming down my face.

"Wha-?"

 **You have been afflicted with a negative status condition 'Vertigo (Severe)'**

 **Vertigo:**

 **Decreases CC by 90%**

 **Decreases DEX by 90%**

 **Decreases Movement speed by 90%**

"Yoru! Kakashi!" I heard Rin scream before a sudden headache appeared, causing me to lose focus as I fell to a knee. I took in large gulps of air in order to ease the conditions, however, it was useless.

"Oi Sensei! What's going on?!" Obito yelled heatedly.

"I like to call them 'Vertigo Seals'." Minato stated causing me to shakily look up at him.

"Vertigo…seals?"

The man looked back at me with a smile as angelic and bright as the sun, yet I could only see the cruel visage of a demon spawned from the depths of hell, "Yep! as long as I can place it near your ear, the seal will disrupt the chakra flowing through the chakra coils located near that area and you'll experience severe vertigo. You can Kakashi are usually the ones who carry your teams, so you'll sit on the back burner for this one."

I slowly looked towards Kakashi's downed form as ringing persisted in my ears and couldn't help but wonder " _When did he…wait."_ I suddenly remembered that he had patted my shoulder after I had incorrectly located him and no sooner did he pat Kakashi's shoulder, " _Is that when? He said it has to be 'near' the ear…"_

I was forcibly broken from my epiphany as another wave of nausea crashed my body causing me to double over further.

"Yoru!" Rin yelled as she gently laid me down and I could feel her try to heal me with Mystic Palm, yet my nausea did not subside one bit.

"Why isn't it working?!" She yelled distraughtly to which the Blonde Namikaze spoke up.

"What's causing his ailment isn't an external or internal wound, but a seal. The only way you could heal him would be to either Win the race, break the seal through brute force, or solve the seal." Minato stated casually before remarking, "Though seeing as you only have 28 minutes remaining, I don't think you'll have enough time to get proficient enough in the art to solve my formula and Yoru isn't in the best condition to help himself."

I couldn't tell what her expression was like from my face-down position, but I imagined she bit her lips. At that moment, Obito asked, "W-what happens if we lose?"

The atmosphere suddenly turned bright yet hidden within was a deep dark maliciousness. I could only imagine the deceptively sincere expression on Minato's face as he replied cheerily, "the losing team will have both of its members carry the seal for the rest of the day and if both teams lose, well…" I could almost _feel_ his grin grow wider as he continued, "You'll all have to deal with vertigo for the day won't you."

"S-Sensei!"

"O-Oi oi, what did we ever do to you?!" Obito asked in trepidation.

"I'm sexually frustrated."

"W-what?"

"57 minutes."

"EEEP!" Rin and Obito yelled while I tried to pretend that I didn't hear Minato mutter with my enhanced sense of hearing. I felt an arm wrap around my waist as my body was lifted, my arm wrapped around Rin's shoulder.

"Come on Yoru, we have to move if you don't want to stay like that for the rest of the day." She said as she supported me while leaping forward into the trees.

" _Urgh…"_ I mentally groaned as the scenery shifted and my senses distorted even further. The worst part of this was the fact that my **Perception** skill increased my senses, so right now I was probably having a much more intense experience than Kakashi was.

"Ohh no!" Rin yelled as my body abruptly shifted, causing me to groan, and I heard the 'ding' sounds of metal colliding. "Obito! What are you doing?!" I heard her yell.

"I'm sorry Rin, but I will _not_ end up like Kakashi for an entire day!" Obito yelled from behind before my Danger sense lightly warned me.

Unfortunately, my body was too weak to react and I could only brace myself as an explosion rocked out beside me, the shockwave most likely throwing Rin off balance as I felt her loosen her hold on me. My body fell down to the earth below and impacted the ground with a resounding 'thud'.

 **-1 HP**

"… _Ow."_

"Damnit Obito!"

"I'm sorry Rin!" The boy yelled, yet his voice started to become distant as he continued, "I'll make it up to you…somehow!"

"… _what about me?"_ I thought before I heard Rin slam her fist into a tree causing it to crack.

"Obito! Why you-…" she suddenly gasped and I heard her footsteps scuttling towards my direction. "Yoru!" She yelled as she lifted me up. "Come on! I will not let us lose to Obito!"

I really couldn't argue with her seeing as my body felt like soup, so I gave a 'Hn' in response as she started hopping from tree to tree. I closed my eyes trying to think of a way out of this predicament, as the wind washed over my face and sweat dripped from my brow.

I shakily raised my free hand into a hand seal in order to create a clone, yet immediately my headache started pounding fiercer and the chakra I had been molding slipped out of my grasp. " _I can't mold my chakra…"_ I wasn't surprised that Minato took this into consideration, but this just made my situation all the more difficult. Moreso by the fact that I would not be able to even access storage seals if I couldn't release my chakra.

Luckily I didn't have to.

"…Rin." I said softly, catching her attention as she looked at me. I lifted my hand and showed her a senbon I had taken from my inventory. "…how good is your accuracy."

"Yoru what is-"

"A Poison-laced senbon that'll knock Obito out for a few minutes. We're shinobi so we're going to have to play dirty in order to win."

Her expression immediately turned determined as she grited her teeth, "I will _not_ be forced to experience vertigo for an entire day!" She said as she grabbed the needle.

I found it pertinent to give her a warning, however, "Don't let it seep into your skin or you'll suffer intense drowsiness and you might knock yourself out."

She hastily dropped the needle with wide eyes, "You should have warned me about that before I grabbed the needle."

"…I have a splitting headache, I feel like I'm going to throw up, I can't tell up from down, and there's a constant ringing in my ears. I apologize if my thoughts aren't clearly structured at this moment."

She sighed before ripping off a piece of cloth from the apron skirt she wore before grabbing the needle, "I'm sorry Yoru, I just…don't want to end up like you."

"…That fills me with so much joy." I replied dryly before continuing, "Regardless, we have to get a move on if you don't want to end up like me. As long as you can catch up with Obito and hit him with the senbon, then we might have a shot at winning this."

She looked at me with determination in her eyes before hoisting me up and blitzing through the tree lines after Obito.

" _She's moving really fast…"_ I thought as the wind whipped in my face. Up ahead, through my distorted vision, I could see a small moving dot that was slowly growing larger in my vision.

"OBITO GET BACK HERE!" Rin yelled as she furiously picked up her pace.

The black dot in the distance, now identified as Obito, froze for a fraction of a second before moving with even more vigor than before.

"NEVER!" He yelled.

Rin cutely knitted her brows and huffed before matching his pace as best as she could. This game of cat and mouse continued, Obito and Rin circling around the village with Kakashi and me on their shoulders respectively. There was the occasion kunai exchange and explosion as Obito tried to slow us down while Rin did her best to return the favor. Over time, however, I noticed that Rin, who had been slowly gaining on Obito, was starting to lose her speed as her face became increasingly flushed and her breathing increased.

" _She's exhausted but there's still 2 more laps to go…"_ I thought and tried to fight through my pounding headache in order to think of a plan. I looked at Rin's flushed face and damp body before looking ahead and noting that Obito was only around 15 meters away.

" _This…might just work."_

"…Rin, try to get Obito to pay _really_ close attention to you….also how good are you with seduction?"

"W-wha…who-…Huh?!" she said, understandably startled.

So I reiterated.

"Distract Obito with your body and tranquilize him with the Senbon."

"YORU!" She yelled scandalized, her face turning a deeper shade of crimson.

At this moment, my face turned green and I felt bile rise up my throat. I had to force it down before looking at her with my sickly face, "…If you don't want to end up like me for a day, you're going to have to use every advantage you have, I.E. your body…even though it's a bit underdeveloped for my tastes."

No sooner did I feel an ungodly premonition wash over my very being as Rin looked at me with a sweet sunny smile, "What did you say Yoru?"

" _Dear Lord…"_ I thought as I shuddered for a moment before immediately shaking myself from that feeling and glancing at Rin lazily, "…do you want to end up like me?"

The brown haired girl grit her teeth and clenched her fists, "Fine!" She stated, just as we reached the checkpoint marking this as our last lap.

She focused her gaze ahead and took a deep breath, "O-Obito-kun, won't you slow down for me? Please?" She said cutely with her face burning crimson and her clothes, damp from sweat, sticking tightly to her body.

"… _she needs some work."_ I thought blandly, but I noticed Obito freeze up ahead most likely from the (not really) seductive sound of her voice (I mean she was 11) but I suppose that since they were the same age, it wasn't an issue.

"W-won't you look at me?" Rin continued with a wink, though since Obito's back was turned, the effect was kind of lost.

Obito hopped down to the ground below as the forested area ended and slowly cranked his head around. Instantly, a trail of blood exited his nose as his eyes roamed all over her. "R-Rin y-you…"

"You like what you see?" Rin asked sensually (or at least she tried to) as she took slow steps towards Obito, the boy in question taking a couple steps back while holding his nose with his free hand, Kakashi in the other.

"I-I u-um…Yes?"

"Then what are you running away?" She continued with a sweet smile "Don't you want all. Of. Me?" She asked cutely, her face turning even more crimson than it had been before.

Steam almost seemed to come out of Obito's ears as he wobbled back another step, "I-I-I…"

"… _I feel so disturbed by this.."_ I thought blandly before deciding that this was enough.

"…you're enjoying this too much, just senbon him already." I whispered unemotionally.

"This was your idea!" She whispered back harshly before gritting her teeth and placing her hand behind her back, hiding her weapon from view. She looked at the still dazed Obito and took another step closer, "W-well d-don't hold back."

Noting that Obito was unmoving, Rin looked at him worriedly, "Obito?" She said as she walked up to him. She poked his face with her finger causing his body to wobble and drop back, blood running from his nose and a stupid smile visible on his face.

He was unconscious.

"I can't believe that worked…and Kakashi is unconscious too." Rin stated in surprise as she noted the swirls in Kakashi's eyes.

"…Kakashi was already unconscious before this. If not, he would have warned Obito's about such an obvious (and sad) attempt at seduction. I suppose it's for the best that we chose this moment to act or we would have failed." I stated indifferently before continuing with a sigh, "…well, let's finish this race already. It's been a long day."

When she didn't respond I raised my head to look at her, "Rin?"

She turned to look at me, a sickly sweet smile on her face "What exactly did you say back then?" She asked kindly.

" _Ohh dear…"_ I thought before racking my brain to come up with a plan out of this predicament, "…That you were such an amazing, kind hearted, and beautiful girl that anyone would fall for your charms." I was still handicapped at this moment so it was in my best interest to not set her on edge.

Rin widened her eyes and then coughed into her hand a few times, her face growing red, "Is that so? Hmm, t-then I suppose we should get a move on." She quickly turned her gaze from me before running to finish the last lap.

"… _How to say…she's only 11 years old after all."_

* * *

"…So you weren't actually planning on giving us vertigo for a day?" I asked lazily as I gazed at the yellow-haired man.

Said individual gave me a genuine smile as he explained, "Of course not, that was just to encourage you all to do your best and push yourself past your limits. I have to say though, I wasn't quite expecting that…" Minato finished with an amused/awkward smile.

"I-It was all Yoru's idea!" Rin yelled with a flustered look on her face.

"…We won, didn't we? It's all good." I replied blithely.

She glared at me in anger and embarrassment before her face turned pink and she looked away.

"You cheater…" Obito, who had been quietly blushing this entire time, stated softly. "Using such a dirty method to win."

"…It worked, didn't it? Plus as shinobi we sometimes have to use the dirtiest methods to win. Besides look, Kakashi's taking it like a pro aren't you?"

The spiky silver-haired boy looked at me listlessly before turning to look at Minato while intoning, "…If we're done here, I'll be going home."

The man asked Kakashi with concern. "Are you sure? Kushina should have been back by now from her grocery run so she's most likely making dinner right now for some guests. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you and the others joined in."

Kakashi shook his head while replying, "Thank you for your concern Sensei, but today's festivities has exhausted me. I would prefer to retire to my home."

Minato gave him a light smile. "Well I can't force you to stay, but you know where to find me if you need anything."

"Thank you sensei." Kakashi replied with a bow before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"I-I think I'm going to get home to my grandmother as well." Obito stated to Minato before glancing at Rin awkwardly then snarling at me, "Yoru, I'm going to get you back for that you cheapskate!"

"…don't lie to yourself." I started, glancing at him disinterestedly, "We all saw that stupid happy smiling face you had. You definitely enjoyed it."

Minato coughed into his fist awkwardly while Rin blushed. Meanwhile, Obito's face turned into a tomato, "W-What…I-I d-did no-" he stuttered before glaring at me and huffing away. Without saying another word, he hopped into the trees, making his way back home.

"I'll also be taking my leave." Rin stated as she bowed to Minato. She turned her gaze towards me, her face turning crimson, before giving me a curt nod and quickly turning away. Without another word, she too disappeared into the distance.

"Those kids…" Minato stated with a sigh before smiling and shaking his head. He looked back at me and stated, "I'm sure Kushina would like to introduce you to the guests Yoru. You want to come?"

I thought for a second before nodding, "…I suppose if my presence isn't a bother…"

The man waved me off, "Of course not and besides, I'm sure they'll want to meet you as well."

I raised a brow, "Just out of curiosity, who exactly are the guests coming over?" I asked.

"Old friends from back in the academy…well an old friend and her husband, but it would be awkward not to invite him." Minato finished, nostalgia visible on his face.

I blinked "I see…I suppose we should get going then?"

Minato nodded and vanished in a Body Flicker, me following him soon after. We arrived in front of the Namikaze-Uzumaki compound soon after which Minato placed his hand on the seal pad on the side of the door and flared his chakra. The door opened, giving us an unfiltered view of the interior of the home causing my and Minato's eyes to widen.

"K-Kushina, w-what…?" Minato stated, dumbfounded as he stared at the numerous Kushina clones running about, each doing separate chores. One was sweeping the floor, one was mopping the floor, one was trying to comfort a crying Mito, one was setting up the dinner table and the last few we could see (as we had been walking around the house) was frantically managing multiple pots and pans of food on the stove.

"M-Minato they're going to b-be here any minute now and I'm not even done yet!" A Kushina yelled as she came down the stairs, her face visibly frantic.

At this, Minato gave her a calm amused smile, "Hun, you're overreacting, I'm here to help, aren't I? Don't worry, I got you." He said as he hugged her close.

They stood like that for a moment, before Kushina stated with a muffled voice, "Why couldn't you be so dependable when it comes to Mito."

Minato scratched his head awkwardly, "She's kind of a handful, especially at night. I can't help it…wait are you still hung up on that?! That was a week ago! Is that why you-"

"Shh, not in front Yoru! He's just a child!"

Minato widened his eyes and looked at me as if remembering that I was still here. He gave a sigh before putting his lips to Kushina's ears and whispering, "Fine, but you _owe_ me for this _later_. 5 days without _it_ is just cruel."

Kushina shuddered and whispered back, "I'll make it up to you… _thoroughly_."

" _Lalala I can't hear them. God these enhanced senses are as much of a curse as they are a blessing…"_ I thought, my eye twitching. " _And now I've got an image stuck in my head…_ _ **Eidetic Memory**_ _is also a curse…"_

Minato smiled and clapped his hands before saying, "Now then… **Shadow Clone Jutsu**!" Immediately, Multiple Minato's popped up around Minato and waited at attention. "Well, we're at your service." The Main Minato stated with a bow.

Kushina licked her lips, "Well if you don't mind helping me with this…" and so she gave them all instructions to follow after which all the Minato clones went about completing the assignments Kushina gave them.

I watched with a raised brow as the surroundings visibly became neater and cleaner with each passing second, the Minatos becoming a blur as they worked. In no time at all, the house looked radically different with everything in somehow _more_ perfect order than they had been before. It wasn't like the house had been that messy, to begin with so it kind of made me wonder why Kushina had been stressing so much.

" _I guess she wanted to make a good impression on her friend…"_ I thought while watching Kushina beam brightly at the house improvements. The Minato clones all 'puffed' at once, leaving just a single Minato left who had a light sweat forming down his brows.

"The table is already set. Yoru, you mind helping me place the food down?" Kushina asked as her clones had just finished prepping the meals.

I nodded my head and with both Kushina and Minato helping along, we got everything set up rather quickly. It was at the moment when we had just put the finishing touches on the table set up, that we heard a knock on the door.

"They're here, just in time too…" Kushina stated with relief as she took off her apron. "Minato, Yoru, come let's go greet them." And without even waiting for my reply, she and Minato left to entertain their old friend, leaving me by the dinner table.

"…"

I followed them soon after and stood there not knowing what to do as I saw them open the door, two forms immediately visible in front of me. The first one of note was a man with short, brown hair that reached to his shoulders and onyx-colored eyes, with visible creases below them. He wore a simple kimono with grey pants.

" _Fugaku…"_

I thought before looking at the next individual of note. She was a beautiful fair-skinned woman with long, straight black hair. She had long bangs hanging on either side of her face that roughly framed her cheeks and her eyes were onyx colored. She wore a simple brown blouse with a dark purple skirt and a light-yellow apron worn over it. Furthermore, I noted that there was a large bulge protruding from her stomach signaling that she was in the later terms of pregnancy.

" _Mikoto…sigh, all the beautiful women are older…"_

I shook my head from those weird thoughts before noting that there was actually a third member hidden behind the two adults.

"Mikoto! It's been too long, it's great to see you again!" I heard Kushina say, joy evident on her face as she moved to lightly embrace her friend.

Mikoto looked at her with a smile. "It has been a while, hasn't it? I'm glad we finally decided to get together again. It's great to see you two, Minato, Kushina." She said with her sweet sounding, joyful, divine voice.

"… _I need an intervention…why am I so young?"_

Minato then chuckled lightly, breaking me from my thoughts. "Likewise, it is great to see you and Fugaku-San as well." He stated before pausing for a moment, noting the small silhouette behind them. "And you brought the little guy as well." Minato stated with a smile.

Mikoto replied happily, "Of course, I figured it would be good for him to get out more. Come on, why don't you introduce yourself?"

"...I'm Itachi Uchiha, pleased to make your acquaintance Lord Minato, Lady Kushina." The now identified Itachi stated with a bow.

"Weird, this feels like Deja vu…." Kushina stated before her eyes widened and she looked behind at me, "Ohh yeah…Yoru, why don't you introduce yourself as well?"

I nodded my head and faced the Uchiha couple with a short bow, "…My name is Yorudan, Orphan, but you may simply refer to me as Yoru. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Fugaku, Lady Mikoto, and Itachi." I intoned softly. I had to be respectful to the clan heads, etiquette and all that.

As I stood up, however, I noted the strange gazes that everyone (but Itachi) was giving me and the young Uchiha as they alternated their sights between us.

Minato was the one to break the silence as he asked ". …Well since that seems to be the end of the pleasantries, why don't we make our way to the dinner table?"

"That would be much welcome and I thank you for the invitation." Came Fugaku's reply.

"No thanks necessary, after all, we are in the company of friends." Kushina's stated with a smile as she directed them to the living room. "Shall we?"

With that everyone took their seiza positions on the zabuton (cushions for sitting) around the 20 cm tall chabudai which was the short-legged table used in traditional Japanese homes. The Uchiha family sat on one end while Kushina, Minato, and I sat on the other.

We all clapped our hands and with a quick 'Itadakimasu' we began our feast. I picked out a few closeby dishes for myself after the guests had already chosen their meals. With that, I simply paid attention to the idle chatter between the adults.

I saw Kushina smile as she looked at Mikoto's bulged stomach and couldn't help but tease, "You know, I always found it interesting how a few months after my daughter's birth, I finally saw the visible signs of your pregnancy. I wonder if she *ahem* _encouraged_ you two."

I had the distinct pleasure of watching Mikoto's expression turn pink and even Fugaku had a light dusting of the cheek as he replied somewhat teasingly, "…you have no idea how many times she talked about having 'another' after seeing your daughter…"

"FUGAKU!" Mikoto yelled, her face growing more crimson by the minute.

The adults burst into laughter at their antics while I simply enjoyed the food.

"…how are you doing that?" A voice quietly asked me from across the table, prompting me to look up from my meal. I noted that since the adults were in their own world, they didn't really pay attention to anything else and it helped that Itachi was sitting right across from me.

I looked at him plainly, "You're going to have to be more specific."

He pointed at my face before elaborating, "How are you eating with the mask on?"

I blinked as I recalled that I still had that Kakashi-esque mask on my face. You know, sometimes it felt like it wasn't even there to begin with…and in a way it wasn't, well at least not at this moment.

I looked at the Uchiha with a light smile, "Trust me it's really a basic trick. When an acquaintance of mine told me how he did it, I almost felt like hitting my head against the wall for not figuring it out earlier."

That seemed to pique his interest as he blinked a couple times and looked at me closely, tilting his head a few times in order to better observe my face mask. I looked at him in amusement, "You think you figured it out yet?"

"…Not quite." He said honestly as returned to his normal position.

I chuckled softly and leaned in close prompting the Uchiha to do so as well with his ear turned towards me.

"Genjutsu." I whispered quietly.

His eyes widened for a moment before he schooled his expression, "…I see…"

Even though his expression was flat, I could feel the emotions emanating from him at my answer. I had felt the same way as well when Kakashi had first told me of his trick. It pretty much involved him putting a _very_ small genjutsu on his mask to make it appear like it was completely on his face when in actuality it was _ever so slightly_ lowered right below his lips. It was such a minuscule difference in positioning that I doubted that most seasoned shinobi would have the chance of figuring it out at first glance.

"Well look at you two getting along together…honestly, why am I not surprised? It's almost like you two are the same people." Kushina stated as she looked at us with a smile.

"…"

"…"

"Look! Even your expressions are the same!"

The rest of the adults chuckled a little bit at our expense before Mikoto stated, "Next time why don't you all come over to our place for Dinner? I would love to return the favor for all of this."

"No, you don't have to-" Minato started, but was cut off as Fugaku interrupted.

"We insist. As a clan head and a shinobi, we always have to pay our debts regardless of how small or insignificant. Please allow us to show you our hospitality at a later date." Fugaku stated seriously.

Minato smiles for a moment before putting on a helpless smile. "I suppose we don't have a choice so we?"

"No, you don't." Fugaku replied with a slight smile.

I blinked a couple times and just decided to focus on my food for the duration of the dinner. The grown-ups all talked about their lives and other small talk, all the while Itachi and I observed silently.

After around an hour or so of bonding, the Uchiha couple decided it was time for them to depart. After saying their goodbyes and promising that they would do this again, they left the premises.

"Well, that was exciting…" Kushina's stated with a smile before clapping her hands together, "Well let's clean up shall we!"

Minato smiled a little bit before blinking, "Let me check up on the baby first, make sure she's still sleeping and all that." He said before walking up the stairs so with him gone, I helped Kushina clear the table.

"Thank you for being here Yoru." Kushina's suddenly stated. "You know, it even seemed like you and Itachi were bonding quite nicely there, you should meet up with him more."

"…I barely talked to him." I stated blandly

"And yet you seemed to bond even more because of it."

"…sure." I said.

The red-headed woman chuckled and ruffled my hair before saying, "Anyway, you can head back home for tonight and get some rest. I'm sure it has been a long day."

I slightly inclined my head, "Thank you and Minato for your hospitality."

"Oh shush you. Shoo." Kushina said jokingly as she waved me off causing me to smile lightly. As I moved to leave, however, I was suddenly struck with the memories of one of my Library clones, causing me to pause.

"Yoru?" Kushina asked in slight worry, yet my mind was elsewhere. Due to the fact that new material was constantly coming into and out of the library, I had created the habit of sending a clone over there every day to check out any new additions. Usually it amounted to nothing since the new literature wasn't valuable to me, however, today was different.

"…Kushina, how much do you know about Natural Energy?"

The woman paused and looked at me for a moment with a thoughtful expression. "…Not much." She admitted before continuing, "I know the basics, but if you are looking for more advanced information on the subject then I know only two individuals who would be able to give you some information on the subject: Jiraiya and Minato."

"… _Wait, Minato knows how to use natural energy?"_ I thought to myself in wonder. My mind rapidly went through the information my clone had memorized from the book and immediately many new plans and ideas formed.

"Why the sudden curiosity?" Kushina asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

I took a light breath. "My clone had just finished reading a book on the subject recently, written by Lord Jiraiya himself." I explained before continuing, "If you don't mind, I would like to wait for a little until Minato comes back down."

She shrugged, "Do what you need to."

I nodded my head in thanks and finished clearing the table after which I waited for the yellow-haired Jonin to come down. I was soon rewarded by the sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs.

"She's out like a light…hopefully, she stays that way the rest of the nig-"

"You cheated." I said blandly, cutting the blond man off from his statement.

Minato blinked. "What?"

So I explained, "The reason I couldn't sense you earlier was due to the fact that you were 'blending in' with your surroundings through the use of Natural Energy. As you said before, you were essentially 'everywhere' as you were one with the environment."

The man looked at me in amusement then chuckled lightly. "And how exactly did you figure that? I thought for sure that I'd be able to stump you for a while."

"For the past few months, I've made it a habit of reading newly published material on chakra theory in the Library." I started before explaining further, "Just recently, Lord Jiraiya wrote a book detailing his research on Natural Energy and how it can interact with individuals."

"Teacher did?" Minato stated before looking at me skeptically. "Then how did you even get access to that?"

And it was a legitimate question to ask. The Konoha Public library had many levels to it that weren't actually 'Public' and required high-level clearance to get access to. Those levels usually contained high-level techniques or advanced level theories that would not be allowed to be made public for anyone. Usually, I wouldn't have had the access necessary to reach Jiraiya's book on Natural Energy as it required a decently high-security clearance, but luckily, I had my ways.

"…Kotoe." I said causing Minato's lips to twitch.

He shook his head and regarded me, his hands slipped into his pockets, "So? I doubt you waited for me here just to tell me that you found out my trick."

"Of course not." I said, shaking my head, "I was actually hoping to ask for your help with your knowledge of Natural Energy and seals. I've been meaning to create a new technique by using natural energy, but all the information I found at the Library in the past was rudimentary at best."

This seemed to pique his interest as he asked, "Oh? What kind of technique."

"Secret." I replied, but added, "However if I can successfully create it, then I don't doubt it will change the landscape of the war in our favor."

That _really_ piqued his interest as he looked at me seriously, "If you're so confident about this then I suppose it's for the best that you keep it to yourself." He paused for a moment and closed his eyes in thought before opening them, "For a while now I've been working on reverse engineering a technique, but I suppose I can lend a hand to help you out with your project."

"Thank you." I stated with a short bow.

The man, however, shook his head, "There's no need, it's not much effort on my part anyway. Is there anything else you need Yoru?"

I thought for a second before denying, "No, that will be all for now so I'll be taking my leave." I turned to leave, but paused and turned back to Minato before saying. "…I hope you and Kushina enjoy each other's company tonight."

Immediately after, I could see his eyes widen in surprise as he slightly gawked.

"Wha-"

"Later." I said and left the house in a quick Body Flicker.


	10. Chapter 10

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like reading fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

" _Time sure flies…"_ I thought as I opened my eyes from my **Meditation** and took a deep breath. I looked around at the grassy training grounds and noted that my clones were still training with the elemental skills I had managed to obtain from various sources.

I closed my eyes and allowed my mind to sift through all that I had accomplished over the years. I opened them and decided to check my progress.

' _Observe'_

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Race: Human?**

 **Level: Lvl 58 Next Level: 6,755/165,400**

 **HP: 31822/31822 Regen: (636.4 per min)**

 **CP: 76553** **/76553** **Regen: (2067.0 per min)**

 **CC: 96%**

 **STR: 247.8**

 **VIT: 260.4**

 **DEX: 203.7**

 **INT: 324**

 **WIS: 318.6**

 **ENGY: 570**

 **Points: 387**

 **Ryo: 875,348**

" _Good…but not good enough."_ I thought as I looked at my base stats. Just based on the numerical value, I was probably around low Jonin level based on the knowledge and observations I had gathered throughout the years. My stats would have been higher if it hadn't been for my staunch dedication in creating an improved healing technique. It wasn't like I had been lazy with my physical training, but most of my time had been spent studying and researching topics related to my goal.

While I wasn't particularly happy with my current strength level thus far, looking at my **Chakra Control** percentage couldn't help but make me nod appreciatively. Some time back, I had managed to increase my **Natural Lightning Affinity** to 100% and the moment I had done so, I had felt a subtle _shift_ in my chakra. This change had allowed me to perfectly control my lightning and element and as a result, I no longer had the need to use hand seals with that type of elemental technique. Furthermore, it had increased my **CC** by 1% which meant that my past conjecture was correct.

" _Increasing my elemental affinities to 100% will further help increase my_ _ **CC**_ …"

The amount of maneuverability and freedom this gave me was more than worth the amount of effort I had to put in and due to this, I had put in even more effort into fully leveling my other elemental skills. My water elemental skill was coming along nicely and I had almost managed to fully level my **Natural Water Affinity**.

As I continued to observe my status, I lightly tapped my chin in thought. Due to my incredibly fast processing capabilities in conjunction with **Eidetic Memory** , I was easily capable of remembering and calculating what my base stats were from the bonuses my skills gave me. Sometimes, however, I just didn't feel like having to go through that effort (however slight it may be) and I now wondered if there was a way to see my base stats.

 **Would you like to toggle [Stat Bonuses] on?**

 **Y/N**

I blinked. " _That's…convenient…"_ I thought before clicking **Y**. Instantly, the display changed.

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Race: Human?**

 **Level: Lvl 58 Next Level: 6,755/165,400**

 **HP: 31822/31822 Regen: (636.4 per min)**

 **CP: 76553** **/76553** **Regen: (2067.0 per min)**

 **CC: 96%**

 **STR: 118 + (210%) = 247.8**

 **VIT: 124 + (210%) = 260**

 **DEX: 97 + (210%) = 203.7**

 **INT: 120 + (270%) = 324**

 **WIS: 118 + (270%) = 318.6**

 **ENGY: 150 + (380%) = 570**

 **Points: 387**

 **Ryo: 875,348 ($87,534.8)**

Well, this made things easier. I quickly roamed through my stats again and nodded my head. It had been quite difficult to break past the 100 stat point barrier for most of my stats, but in the end it had only benefited me. As a result for breathing through those barriers, however, I had unlocked new interesting perks from my stats.

 **Unique Muscle Memory (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **Unique Muscle Memory is a skill granted to those with an incredible mind-muscle connection. It allows the user to rapidly improve upon all skills that require the use of the body. Increases the % training rate of body skills by the user's strength. (If the user has 200 STR then their bodily skills will improve by 200%)**

 **Accelerated Analysis (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **Accelerated Analysis is a skill granted to those with incredible processing capabilities and brain power. It allows the user to increase their processing capabilities by the full % of the user's INT stat. (If the user has 200 INT then their thought processes will be accelerated by 200%)**

 **Empathy (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **With great wisdom, you are able to understand the emotions of all living beings you come across. Empathy allows the user to grasp and know all the emotions and emotional changes any individual is going through. It has a maximum range equal to the user's WIS stat in meters and it can be turned on or off at will. (If the user has 200 WIS then this skill will have a maximum range of 200 meters. This range can be adjusted to the user's whims.)**

Interestingly enough, I hadn't gotten a new skill for **ENGY** yet even though I had gotten my base stat up to 150. It made me wonder if I was going to even get any more skill perks or if I had to further increase my base stats to higher levels.

" _Now then, that_ _ **DEX**_ _though…"_ I wasn't sure if it was some odd obsessive compulsion, but seeing my **DEX** as the only stat that wasn't at **100** really bugged me, especially since I could actually see the numerical value unlike before when I had usually just calculated my base stats off of my percent multipliers in my head. It grated me enough that I contemplated using a few of my stat points for a brief moment… " _It's only 3…"_

And gave in.

Ping!

 **Congratulations, the skill 'Hawkeyes' has been granted by reaching 100 DEX!**

 **Hawkeyes (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **Hawkeyes is a skill granted to those with incredible natural vision. With this ability, every point the user has in Dexterity is a meter long increase to their natural vision range. It also allows the user to see in the dark. (I.e. a DEX stat of 200 [including bonuses] would increase your maximum vision range by 200 meters.)**

My eyes widened as I felt them _change_. It was such an odd and disorienting feeling to have my vision suddenly become better and clearer by multiple times that I had to blink multiple times in order to get used to it. After a few seconds, I finally managed to adapt to my improved sight and took in the surroundings eagerly. " _This…"_

The color.

The detail.

The resolution.

Everything looked so much more vibrant than before and I could see and notice slightly different shades of color and texture that I hadn't been able to prior to awakening this skill. The experience of **Hawkeyes** was almost as intense as the first time I had gotten the **Empathy** skill.

" _And I ruined the mood."_ I thought as less than pleasant memories resurfaced.

Even with my emotions dulled by 90%, the intense emotional backlash I had received from experiencing the emotions of every sentient being within a 265-meter radius was not one I wanted to experience again. It was only thanks to the fact that I could control its range and that I hadn't been in the center of town that kept me from breaking down from enduring all those weird and random emotions at once. For that reason, I usually kept my ' **Empathy barrier'** , so to speak, at a 5-meter wide area around me just so that I could only feel the emotions of the people in my immediate vicinity. The other skills I had gotten had been much easier to manage and there hadn't been much I had to or even could do to keep them in check.

I leaned back against the tree I had been meditating on and picked up the book I had been studying titled ' _Chakra Theory in Biology'_. It was an advanced level chakra theory book which went into great detail about how chakra improved upon the various biological processes of the body and was written by none other than 'The Professor' himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi. This past year and a half or so, ever since my first mission, I had been researching pretty much all of the books that had anything to do with Natural chakra and Chakra theory all in order to create a medical skill that could regrow limbs.

While I hadn't made a _major_ breakthrough as of yet, I had come up with many plans after running countless variables in my mind. The most promising one had to do with creating a seal that absorbed and controlled the input of natural energy into the technique at just the right proportions. The only issue with this had been that I hadn't had a single clue about how to sense and gather the natural energy with the seal, but luckily, I had Minato to help.

The backbone for the seal had been mostly completed with his help, but there were a few logistical issues that had to be worked out such as creating a system to prevent the Natural Energy from mixing with the user's chakra. Another issue was matching the input of Natural Energy to the output of chakra that the user was using for their technique. Since I was planning to improve upon the traditional **Mystic Palm Technique** , which already required immense chakra control, the modulation of Natural Energy had to be perfect.

Besides those, I had found a medical technique in Konoha's library that had served as the backbone for my seal.

The **Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique.**

It was an extremely complex medical ninjutsu with a low success rate and it also required teamwork between the users for a successful treatment.

However, more important than that was the fact that it used a unique Fuuinjutsu seal as its basis. The seal used was square in shape and would be drawn on the floor while the patient would be placed at the center.

It worked by taking a portion of an injured individual's body as a medium (from skin cells to hair cells) and converting those cells in order to regenerate missing sections of the body.

It required immense chakra control to match the chakra into the proportion of cells and treatment took a long time, however, it was more than a perfect start for me.

With that, I lightly sighed and leaned back on the tree while continuing to slowly flip through the book. There were just some instances where I wanted to sit down, relax, and take it slow. The book in and of itself was interesting enough that I quickly got absorbed into it and continued to read it at a steady pace.

My mind eventually drifted as I thought about something else that had been on my mind for a few months now.

Reaching level 50.

I had found out more about my abilities and the level of my growth as soon as I hit level 50, for example, before my **HP** used to be calculated by my **VIT** stat multiplied by 50 plus other bonuses, however upon reaching level 50, I had gotten a few messages from my ability, one of which told me that my base **HP** would now be calculated by

 **50 + (Vitality * Level)**

Instead of the previous

 **50 + (Vitality *50)**

And the same thing occurred to my **CP** growth.

More than that, however, I had obtained other messages after reaching level 50 which had given me pause. They allowed me to realize that my ability was much more complex than it had initially seemed and that I actually didn't know as much about it as I thought I had.

Before I could delve deeper into that thought, I suddenly raised my right hand and caught a senbon that had been thrown at me. "You know I can sense you, Teacher, why do you even bother trying?"

"I need to make sure you're always on your guard and not slacking." A voice said before the figure of my trainer, Kotoe, appeared in front of me.

Keeping my gaze on my book, I flipped a page before asking, "And? I doubt you came here just to 'keep me on guard'. Is there something pertinent that requires my attention?" Suddenly, I could feel the atmosphere change around her as it became much more serious. "Well?" I asked looking at her.

"I'm not sure how aware you are about the developments in the war, so I'll give you a brief rundown of what you need to know." She said

I slightly shifted to attention and listened as she continued to speak, "Not long ago, the Tsuchigumo Clan formed a pact with the Third Hokage due to the fact that the clan's leader, En no Gyōja, developed a technique that could wipe out an entire village. By terms of the pact with the Third Hokage, En no Gyōja declared the technique to be forbidden, in exchange for protection provided by Konoha in times of need."

"I do recall hearing something about that…" I said, though keeping my eyes in my book, yet I could help but ask, "What about the technique made the Third Hokage declare it forbidden?"

Kotoe sighed solemnly, "From what Lord Danzo explained, it's called **Fury** and it utilized Natural Energy to power the technique. From what I've heard the damage it caused was quite immense."

Suddenly I froze, my hand which had been motioning to turn the page stood still in the air.

"…How?" I asked.

Seeing her confused look, I elaborated, "How exactly is the natural energy gathered for the technique?"

She looked at me intently before explaining, "…I recall Lord Danzo mentioning that it was a type of Fuuinjutsu seal. As a matter of fact, Minato was his first option to take the mission but since his team was currently-"

I slammed the book shut, effectively cutting her off before I stood up. "What's the mission?"

She rolled her eyes at my antics before handing me a mission scroll. I quickly opened and memorized the contents in less than a second after which I tossed it into the air and went through a few handseals in rapid succession. I kneaded my chakra inside my body before converting it to fire and expelling it out of my mouth as a stream of flame towards the scroll, all of this occurring in a seemingly single smooth motion.

* * *

 **Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique (Active) Level 40**

 **The Great Fireball Technique allows the user to knead chakra inside their body and convert it into a fire before expelling it from the mouth, either as a massive sphere or as a continuous flame-thrower. The scope of this attack is altered by controlling the volume of chakra that is mustered.**

 **Maximum Range: 80 meters**

 **Damage: 520% ENGY**

 **Cost: 1250 CP**

* * *

There were only ashes remaining of the mission scroll after my technique ended, so I dusted myself off and started walking forward.

Ping!

 **Quest Alert!**

 **The Power of Fury!**

 **The Tsuchigumo clan** **has recently come under a series of attacks from small groups of other villages due to their possession of a powerful Kinjutsu that could influence the war. Officially you are to protect them till the attacks subside substantially enough that they can hold their own, unofficially, you are to obtain the schematics for the technique with your mastery of seals.**

 **Objective 1 Reward: 300,000 EXP & 50,000 Ryo**

 **Objective 2 Reward: 100,000 EXP & 'Fury' Schematics**

 **Failure: Death and/or torture**

"…You seem awfully eager to complete this mission Yoru." Kotoe said from behind me, her tone intrigued.

"You have no idea."

"That's fine and all…" she started before continuing in amusement, "But do you even know where you are supposed to go next?"

I froze mid-step. "No…"

The woman had the audacity to laugh at my predicament before shaking her head, "You usually so act much more mature than your age that I sometimes forget that you are still just a kid."

My eye twitched. "…just lead the way."

"Sure thing kiddo, but just make sure to follow _behind_ me." My instructor said as she walked up and ruffled my hair. Before I could slap her hand away, she removed it and chuckled to herself before jumping in the tree lines, so I followed her.

"… _Women."_

* * *

"Good, you're all here." The Hokage stated as he looked at the forms of Dove, Turtle, me, Boar and his two teammates, Monkey and Tiger, Viper and finally Wolf, all standing at attention while Wolf was still out of commission. We had all come in at around the same time, all prepped with our Anbu uniforms and other attire.

The Hokage stamped a few pieces of paper before neatly stacking them and laying them on the table. "First and foremost, I expect your mission to protect the Tsuchigumo clan to take priority over your _other_ assignment, is that understood?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage!" We immediately chorused.

The Hokage nodded in approval, "Good, now our client and his personnel are already here, keep yourselves at attention."

No sooner did he say that did the door to his office open allowing 4 discernible forms to enter the room. I quickly scanned all of them with a quick **Observe** and **Empathy** while taking in their forms.

The first one notable was a young girl around the age of 12-13 who had fair skin, dark-green eyes, and long wavy blonde hair with a widow's peak, reaching her back. The girl wore a violet-colored kimono top with white trimmings tied by a black obi.

 **Hotaru, Tsuchigumo Shinobi**

 **Lvl: 20**

 **Rep: 0**

The next individual of note was an elder man who seemed to be in his early 50 or so with long black hair with grey streaks that formed into a mustache and beard. He also had small black eyes and wore a baggy tannish-colored robe.

 **En no Gyōja, Tsuchigumo Clan Leader**

 **Lvl: 90**

 **Rep: 0**

Next to him was a man who appeared to be in his late 30s who had short spiked up black hair. He wore a grey outfit with a silver sleeveless haori which had grey trimmings, a long sleeve grey shirt inside and long pants, a black bracelet on each wrist, and black shinobi sandals.

 **Hāto, Tsuchigumo Shinobi**

 **Lvl: 75**

 **Rep: 0**

Finally, next to Hato was a young man at around 18 years of age with black shaggy hair with bangs that hung over his eyes and framed both sides of his face and pronounced creases underneath his black eyes. In addition, he was tall and well-muscled wearing a high-collared blue cloak, a black top that ended mid-chest and dark casual pants. His gaze was calm and seemingly apathetic as he stood there patiently.

 **Shiranami, Tsuchigumo Shinobi**

 **Lvl: 65**

 **Rep: -20**

I had to prevent my brows from slightly furrowing as I felt the negative emotions coming off of him with my **Empathy**. No sooner did Kotoe gently place a hand on my back almost to comfort me, however, I knew that was not the case as her fingers rhythmically tapped on my back in certain patterns and durations.

" _Morse code…"_ I thought as I deciphered her message.

 _Kotoe: "What can you feel?"_

I stealthily reached behind my back and tapped the back of her palm with my fingers.

 _Yoru: "Girl and two older men. neutral. The younger man. Anger and hatred."_

She tapped me a few more times.

 _Kotoe: "Good, keep a close watch on him."_

And with that, we went to our former positions, our interaction lasting no more than a few seconds. I had, of course, told Kotoe about my **Empathy** skill soon after I had gotten it because I knew how important such an ability would be on missions. It could even save a life one day if our ranks were infiltrated and I sniffed them out, not to mention it made interrogation much easier if I could tell their truths from lies. Some things, however, like the true nature of my full ability, would _always_ remain a secret.

The time it took for me to observe them and for Kotoe of message me had been no more than a few seconds during which they had also been observing us. En no Gyōja, the clan leader, slightly inclined his head in approval after giving us a more than a cursory glance while stroking his beard. "I see, so these shinobi are to be our helping hands against the upcoming storm. I assume they are all well prepared for the adversities ahead?"

"I assure you, they are more than competent for this mission." The Hokage affirmed, fingers interlaced as he rested his hands on his desk.

The Tsuchigumo clan leader smiled lightly before slightly inclined his head, "Thank you old friend for extending your aid in our time of need."

"There is no need for thanks." The Hokage said, slightly shaking his head yet keeping a small smile on his face, "As per our previous arrangement and as a matter of principle, the Leaf will always be there to help your village in its time of need. If there is anything further you need, do let me know."

"No, we should be able to make due-"

"Actually there is something I'm curious about." A calm sounding voice spoke up, effectively cutting En no Gyōja off.

"Shiranami!" Hato spoke up, slight irritation visible on his visage.

The young man continued nonetheless, "Is this truthfully the best that the Leaf can give us? Even after everything my clan has had to go through because of your war? They even have a child with them."

"Shiranami enough!" The older male Hato spoke up, his expression now more irritated. "We should be grateful for the help we have been offered. You should not be rude towards-"

"No, it's understandable." Hiruzen spoke up before continuing, "Our forces are quite thin, but I guarantee you that these are some of the finest groups we have. You need not worry about their capabilities. However…"

Here the atmosphere changed as a primal feeling of dread overwhelmed my being. My eyes widened and my body leaked sweat from my pores as the Hokage continued, a calm but dangerous look on his face and a slightly visible blue aura around him. "I would ask that you refrain from speaking out of turn _boy_."

I could tell that even that kid's impassive visage was cracking as sweat streamed down his face, yet he found the strength to nod nonetheless.

"Please calm yourself Old friend." Gyoja spoke up with a slight smile on his face yet I could feel his annoyance at Shiranami as he explained, "You should know how emotional children can become. You will save me face, won't you?"

Almost immediately the pressure that had been around the room disappeared almost as it had never been there to begin with and the Hokage returned to his usual genial facade, "Of course, children can be unruly at times, which is why it is our duty to teach them discipline."

The Tsuchigumo clan head chuckled lightly, which Hiruzen followed, after which he stated, "As to your earlier supposition, you have helped us more than enough. We'll be taking our leave as soon as possible."

"Then I wish you the best." Was Hiruzen's reply.

Gyoja nodded and turned, walking out of the door to which the little girl Hotaru, the middle-aged man Hato, and the young man Shiranami followed. Before Shiranami left, however, he gave us all one last look before narrowing his eyes at me and leaving.

I looked at his retreating form blandly before thinking, "… _he's such a ball of sunshine."_

* * *

"You shouldn't look so distracted Yoru, it's unlike you." Kotoe said beside me as we hopped from tree to tree towards the Tsuchigumo Village.

"…I'm never distracted." I stated simply, hopping off another tree and feeling the wind on my face.

I could almost feel her roll her eyes as she's replied, "I've been with you long enough to know when your blank face is simply blank or if you're in deep thought so I know something's been on your mind…that and you were pissing out your pores in the Hokage's office."

"…Funny you should mention that." I started. "Because J could have sworn I smelled a little piss on y-"

"Yoru!" Kotoe said heatedly, "Do not complete that sentence!"

"…You really shouldn't be embarrassed it's a natural biological process that many animals go throu-" I hastily ducked as a barrage of shuriken flew towards me aimed at my head and looked back blandly. "…That's unprofessional."

"Tsk, I was just making sure you were aware of your surroundings." She said with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

"I would advise you both not to have a lover's quarrel in the middle of the mission." Wolf's voice sounded out in front of us as she gave us a side glance. "It will reflect poorly on us as Konoha shinobi if-"

"You know, I sensed you were frustrated earlier in the Hokage's office and…was that Shark I smelled on y-" My eyes widened as a barrage of kunai flew my way and I immediately substituted myself with a log right before it was shredded by the projectiles. I appeared a few meters away on a tree branch and immediately jumped up as a Demon Wind Shuriken cleaved the tree I had been on.

With a small flip, I landed on a tree branch and continued my tree hopping as I Looked at Wolf who was giving me a hard glare. "You will _not_ finish that sentence."

" _Women…"_ I thought blandly as we continued onwards at a fast pace. Due to the fact that the Tsuchigumo clan leader was a prime assassination target, Boar, Monkey, Tiger, And Viper had gone on ahead with Gyoja and his entourage in addition with a Kotoe clone since she was such an incredible sensor. With that they could scout for attacks up ahead while we would lag a little behind, but not by much. Just enough where we couldn't see each other but enough where even I could sense them.

Before I could ruminate any further, I heard Kotoe speak up from behind me, her tone serious, "It seems like we won't have such an easy mission this time around: Small party of around 6 all around Low-Jonin levels."

"Jeez." Turtle, who had been silent the whole time finally spoke up, "I can't believe that they're already willing to send such high-grade ninjas."

"We, unfortunately, don't have much time to worry about that." Kotoe said looking up at the sky for a moment before continuing, "Turtle, send one forward to warn the others that they are coming from our 9. We should be able to hold them off or even beat them if we play this right."

The man nodded and sent a clone ahead before Wolf spoke up, "I believe that we should ambush them before they come towards us. It seems like they are expecting to see us but not expecting us to see _them_. Correct me if I'm wrong."

Kotoe shook her head, "No, you are correct, from their trajectory they seem to know our general area but nowhere concrete. We can use this against them quite easily and pick them apart." With that said she landed on a branch to a stop.

We all followed suit after her before Kotoe stated, "Follow my lead and stay close. You should be able to sense them by now, right Yoru?" At my nod, she continued, "Good you'll lead with me."

And with that she leaped ahead towards our enemies' general direction, prompting us to follow. Within a few seconds we crossed the kilometer gap separating us and our enemies, but right before we made contact, Kotoe suddenly split one direction and I split another Turtle and Wolf following her and me respectively.

I flashed a few hand signals telling Wolf to wait for just a moment and no sooner did I see multiple figures jump right ahead of me all in black clothing and with Anbu masks on.

"… _Kirigakure."_ I thought as I saw the mask designs, but I didn't question it any further and quickly charged lightning in my hands before releasing a beam of electricity in the form of my **Lightning Strike** from my palms. All without handseals.

The sudden attack blew one of them from midair as the individual crashed through multiple trees and came to a stop.

 **-6505**

 **HP: 23495/30000**

"Enemy attack!" One of them yelled, however before they could regroup, a blur flashed by and brutally slammed itself against one of the enemy shinobi, throwing him/her far away.

That was soon followed by a volley of senbon, courtesy of Kotoe, that rained down upon the remaining four individuals who all split up in order to avoid the needles. Before they could even get their bearings, Wolf finally moved forward agilely and slashed at two of the unsuspecting enemies with her tanto.

I decided to quickly focus my attention on the remaining two Kiri Anbu and slipped into stance while also remembering about the one I had attacked earlier. With a kunai in hand, I dashed forward towards one of the enemies, Kotoe having moved to engage the other, but before we could make contact, both of them expelled mist from their mouths which quickly spread to the surroundings.

" _The Hiding in Mist Technique…this is somewhat troublesome."_ I thought as I tightly gripped my kunai and turned my head to look all around me. The issue with this jutsu was that the mist was created by the user's chakra and so since their chakra was pretty much everywhere around me, I could not accurately sense their energy 'resonance' with the surroundings.

" _However…"_ I said as I jumped to get an aerial view of the battlefield. " _I can still feel your emotions."_ Without missing a beat, I flipped through 5 handseals while inhaling air into my lungs and molding my chakra.

" _Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."_

* * *

 **Wind Release: Great Breakthrough (Active) Lvl 38 [65.25%]**

 **The Wind Release: Great Breakthrough is a technique that creates a gust of wind, whose scale and usage varies depending on the user.**

 **Maximum Range: 114 meters**

 **Damage: 570% ENGY**

 **Cost: 1500 CP**

* * *

With a thought, I expelled a gale of wind from my mouth which quickly blew the mist away. What I saw, while gravity took a hold on me, was a battlefield devoid of enemies, only Kotoe and Wolf visible on the ground floor. I landed softly on the ground while noting that they were out of my detection range.

I looked at Kotoe who shook her head in the negative, "I can sense their retreating chakra signatures, but it would be unwise to go after them especially since their heading the opposite direction. We've already warned the team ahead so what we can do now is catch up and-"

"I'm back!…and what did I miss." Turtle said as he ran into the clearing noting our forms.

"Our enemies escaped and it is now imperative that we catch up to the main group." Wolf said as she sheathed her tanto and looked at Turtle. "How about yours?"

"Well…" The man started, scratching his head, "he turned his body to water and just disappeared in the soil. I kind of didn't expect that so I was at a loss."

Wolf nodded, "It seems like this job is going to be a long one. Turtle you think you can lead us to the group with your clone that went ahead earlier? I'm sure they must be out of your range by now, Dove."

Kotoe nodded, "Unfortunately so. While we do know the routes they are taking, it's safe to assume they may have chosen to deviate due to our warning. It's best to err on the side of caution."

"No worries." Turtle said before closing his eyes and opening hem a second later, "I just dispelled it, follow me." He jumped up to the trees and, likely using the information he got from his clone, lead us through the forest.

We vigilantly made our way towards the other group, making sure to be acutely aware of our surroundings. In little time we eventually caught up with the other group up front. I noted how their previously tensed forms relaxed as they saw our figures, furthermore, they were stationary in a clearing of the forest.

"We figured something must have happened when you dispelled your clone Turtle, but seeing as Dove's clone was still here we didn't really have to worry." Boar said with a light sigh before he scanned us once more, "Regardless, I'm glad you all are alright."

"Likewise." Kotoe said before dispelling her clone. "Though I have to ask why you decided to pause here? With enemies on our trail, it's imperative we get to our destination quicker."

"We would have continued on, but…" Boar nodded his head to the side towards the individuals from Tsuchigumo, more specifically, Hotaru. "The little one got tired. I figured I would wait for you guys as reinforcements and continue with her on my back."

Now that he mentioned it, she was really flushed in the face.

Kotoe sighed and tried to pinch the bridge of her nose, before remembering she had a mask on. "Really, why didn't you just do that before?" At Boars somewhat sheepish expression, she looked at the Tsuchigumo clan leader who had most likely been listening in. "Why exactly did you bring an untrained child here in the first place? She would have been much safer in the confines of your village walls."

"That…" the clan leader seemed to pick his words carefully as he explained, "She's…too important to be without my supervision."

Kotoe gave him a look for a moment before shaking her head. "Fine, but she'll only slow us down on her own two feet. Boar."

The bulky man nodded and went on one knee, his back facing the girl, "Come on kiddo, let's get you home quickly."

Hotaru looked at En no Gyoja who nodded his head. She then shyly climbed up Boar's back causing Kotoe to state, "alright, let's get a move on. There are no enemies within my detection range, but that may change soon." With that, she jumped up into the trees with the rest of us right behind her.

I focused on the emotions that the Tsuchigumo shinobi were outputting, more specifically, the ones Shiranami was projecting. " _Absolutely nothing…"_ Aside from the tingle of negativity he seemed to have, there was no inward or outward change in his emotions that I could sense. He was just calm.

It wasn't weird or suspicious, but I had to note that even En no Gyoja and Hato had emotions of worry, most likely from the fact that enemies had already started coming after them, no need to mention Hotaru who was inwardly very frightened.

I shook my head, " _There are more important things."_ I thought as I continued to move along the trees. I just had to remain vigilant and keep my guard up against as many eventualities as I could.

In little time, and without much suspense, we got appeared in front of the village doors. With a simple signal from the village leader who was traveling with us, the guards allowed us into the village gates. As we walked down the streets, my **Empathy** picked up trace amounts of…Well, not hatred but slight animosity from most of the village residents. Before I could dwell on it any further we suddenly stopped in front of a small building.

"I would first like to extend my thanks for your assistance." En no Gyōja stayed before gesturing towards the building. "This will be your place of residence for the time being. I apologize that it isn't much, however-"

"Master Gyoja!" A voice yelled causing us all to turn to the source. There I saw a slightly above middle age man with a bristling mustache and dark eyes. He wore a simple, v-neck, long-sleeved shirt with a sleeveless coat, a pair of pants and sandals.

"Tonbee." Gyoja stated as the man approached.

The dark-eyed man nodded his head. "I just received word that you returned so I hurried here as quickly as I could. How is lady Hotaru?"

The Tsuchigumo clan leader gestured towards Boar who was carrying the sleeping form of the blond haired girl on his back.

"I see." Tonbee stated, before looking at us all "I thank you for your assistance, but if you would be so kind…" Boar nodded and gently handed over Hotaru's sleeping form to the man who replied gratefully, "Thank you again for your aid."

With that said the man left, allowing En Gyoja to continue where he left off, "As I was saying, it may not be much but it has enough rooms to accommodate you all." Here he sighed before explaining, "The frequency of attacks has been increasing causing much of our previous infrastructure to be destroyed. Please be on alert."

"We will and thank you for your hospitality." My teacher spoke up eliciting nods of agreement from the rest of us.

Gyoja responded in kind and looked towards Hato and Shiranami before leaving the premises, the other two individuals following behind. With that, we entered the building and admired its interior before moving to the living room area. Entering this part of the building, I looked at the wall of the living room and noticed a dragon mural hung up on the wall.

"That's an interesting piece of art." Turtle said as he looked at the dragon head that was framed up on the wall.

I nodded my head in agreement, but couldn't help but feel something off about it. " _Weird…"_

"Another day….another mission." Viper said as he took off his mask, placed it on the table, and plopped on the couch.

"This is the way of life we chose, or are you having second thoughts?" Wolf asked as she followed suit and took off her Anbu mask as well.

I and the rest of the Anbu here did the same before Viper replied, "It's not that, it's just…sometimes I just want a vacation you know? Go to a foreign land, meet a foreign woman, get to know that foreign woman, maybe get laid by said woman…you know what I mean?"

"No." was her dull reply

Viper rolled his eyes, "Oh right I forgot, you already have your boy toy to play wi- woah!" He said as he jumped up from his seat, just in time to dodge the shuriken that embedded themselves on the chair he had been on.

As if she had done something insignificant, Wolf sat down on the tatami mat, legs crossed, and asked, "So, what's the plan this time around?"

"I suppose we can proceed as usual." Boar said as he too plopped down on the floor.

With us all eventually sitting in our most comfortable positions, Kotoe then replied, "So I create scouting clones and we all react to any unforeseen circumstances they detect?" She then shrugged, "I suppose that's best for this mission anyway."

"…I would also advise keeping an eye on the villagers as they don't seem to hold goodwill towards us." I stated, centralizing the attention on me.

"A lot of people don't like us." Turtle stated. "It comes with the job."

"I'm aware." I replied. "But it's best to be safe and exercise caution."

"Don't worry your sweet little head about that kid." Viper said calmly, though his body language indicated he was ready to jump at a moments notice. "You're practically preaching to the choir." With that said he kept whisking glances at Wolf who glared at him in return causing him to flinch back.

"Anyway." Boar started as he got up and stretched, "Keep your eyes peeled and don't lower your guard, like usual. I'm going get some shuteye so wake me up if something happens." With that, he left the living area and went about the house to go to his room.

Watching the guy leave, Viper couldn't help but comment, "I'm telling you guys that it's the sexual tension! I mean look, Boar never gets tired!"

"If you're so desperate for action just go to a brothel. You're acting like a desperate starved dog." Monkey, one of Boar's subordinates, stated as he stood up. "I'll be semi-conscious so give me a tap if you need me." Following him as he made his way out was Tiger leaving Kotoe, Turtle, Wolf, Viper, and me here.

"…If you all need to sleep feel free to do so." I stated at them, "I don't need it and I need to keep myself alert anyway since I'm a sensor."

"I'll shamelessly take you up on your offer." Turtle stated as he too got up. "Sorry to take advantage of you like this kid, but I really haven't gotten any good sleep in a while."

"No worries. It'll be best if you all are at your peak anyway."

"Ahh thanks, kid, you're a lifesaver." He said before patting my head and walking away.

"I can't say I trust you with my life, but I trust you enough to keep a good lookout." Wolf stated as she stood. "Well, I'm off. Hopefully, I see you all tomorrow and not in the middle of the night."

"Well unlike her." Kotoe started as she pushed herself off the wall she had been leaning on. "I do trust you with my life. So do me a favor and don't get me killed ok?" She said with a wink before leaving.

"And then there were two." Viper stated as he looked at the direction my teacher and Wolf had left before breathing a sigh.

"You aren't going to sleep?" I asked noting how Viper seemed to be in thought.

"I really can't." He said with a sigh, "It's been a while since I've had a woman to be with. Maybe Monkey was onto something…" He put on a thoughtful expression and muttered to himself before looking at me with narrowed eyes and stroking his chin. "Hey Yoru?"

"…Hm?"

"You've never been to a brothel am I right?"

I blinked. Twice. "I mean I'm seven and a half so…"

"Great!" He said clapping his hands before rubbing them together, "How would you like to experience the other _adult_ aspects of shinobi life let's say…seduction?"

I gave him a blank look, "I'm seven…"

"Ohh don't be like that, girls dig cute kids!" He looked at me pleadingly before getting on his knees, "Please Yoru you have to help me!"

"…"

He smiled.

I sighed.

"…Fine. I'll leave a clone here and go with you. Just stop acting so…pathetic." " _I needed to do recon anyway so this is as good of an excuse as any."_

The man smiled before thrusting a fist in the air, "Yes! Thanks, kid, I promise you won't regret it!"

I looked up to the ceiling " _I hope so."_

* * *

"Ahh! He's so cute!"

"He really is! Look at those pretty silver eyes!"

"And his mask too! So mysterious."

"Ladies, ladies." Viper stated as he raised his hands in a placating manner, "Don't crowd around him like that or you'll scare my little bro."

One of the brothel ladies look at both me and Viper, likely noting the not so subtle differences in our skin tone, "But you two don't even look alike…"

"Adopted." Viper said offhandedly before giving (or at least trying to) a charming smile and placing his hands around two of the women, "Now then, why don't we go someplace more _private_."

The women giggled and felt upon the man before dragging him off to a closed curtained area and disappearing from view.

I sighed

" _What a lost cause."_

I stood up and looked around, listening to the music, whistles, and cheers of the surroundings. I had sent some clones to survey the village earlier in order to check for weaknesses in this place's defense. Additionally, there was a clone back at our temporary residence in order to monitor the area just in case.

With these thoughts, I gave the surroundings one more cursory glance before I paused and narrowed my eyes in a certain direction. " _Did I see that correctly…that hair…and his immense chakra…"_ I thought as I tried to look past the crowd of people, but unfortunately, I was still young and therefore short. I sighed softly before closing my eyes and focusing my enhanced hearing in that direction.

"Hahaha ladies, ladies, please there's only one of me and so many of you. Why don't you come at me one at a time?"

"Didn't you say you were a 'legendary shinobi'? What, is a few women too much for you to handle Mr. powerful shinobi?"

"Or were you just all bark?"

"All bark?!" The first voice said, "ladies I'll have you know that I'm one of the strongest ninjas in my village. Even my other two teammates pale in comparison!"

"Ohh yeah?"

"Why don't you show us then?"

"If you're such a strong ninja then 5 women shouldn't be too much to handle."

"You can even be as rough as you want."

"Please hurry up!"

"Hehe, I'm going to have to teach you ladies never to underestimate a Sannin! Now, how about we start by-"

And with that, I stopped listening and blinked in thought. " _That can't possibly be…but who else? And why here?…well at least this gives me something to do."_

And so, since I wasn't going to get any answers sitting down, I stood up and followed the sounds of perverted giggling (granted there was a lot of that here so it took a while) and stood before a curtained room. A simple genjutsu made me invisible to the crowd preventing any heads from turning at the sight of a 7-year-old in a brothel. Though, considering I had seen some rag dressed children around, suffice to say that my presence would not have turned too many heads. Then again, I was too good looking for my own safety.

With those thoughts out of the way, I opened the curtain and peered into the room. " _Jiraiya of the Sannin."_ I confirmed as I saw the visage of the man who looked to be in his early thirties.

My intrusion disrupted their laughter as all 6 heads turned towards me.

"A kid?" One of the women said

"And he looks so cute!"

"Ah! Look at his beautiful eyes!"

Ignoring the fawning women, I turned my gaze towards Jiraiya whose eye twitched continuously while looking at me and I heard him mutter, "Just when we were getting to the good part too…"

Ignoring that, I pulled down my mask causing the occupants of the room to gasp.

"Omigod so cute!"

"Look how pretty his face is!"

"If only he was ten years older…"

Jiraiya's eyes twitched again.

I sighed.

" _Who would have thought being cute would be so troublesome…"_ So I ignored the peanut gallery and opened my mouth, showing Jiraiya my tongue for just a moment before putting my mask back on.

His face tightened at seeing the **Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal** given to me by Danzo before I slightly bowed and made my way out, though not before hearing Jiraiya say to the women, "Well…shall we continue?"

* * *

As I waited in the area I had been in before meeting Jiraiya, I noted that the curtain to Viper's area opened with the women exiting soon after. As soon as they saw me, their smile brightened while Viper's looked somewhat strained.

"I'll see you again maybe?" Viper asked the women hopefully.

"As long as you bring him with you next time."

"I mean your adopted brother is just so adorable!"

"I won't mind seeing _him_ again in 10 years, but by that time…"

Viper's facade began to crumble but not before the women left blowing me a kiss along the way.

"It's all your fault!" Viper said, giving me the stink eye.

I raised a brow. "…what exactly?"

Viper clenched his fists in frustration before giving me a hard look, "All they wanted to do was talk about you! 'Your adopted brother is so cute!' or 'How old is he?' Or 'why does he wear a face mask?' And one even had the opacity to say 'Tell him to visit again when he's older.' I mean what the hell?! You're seven! Why would anyone find you sexually appealing?! They don't even know what your face looks like! Hell, I don't even know what your face looks like!"

I watched as the man raged about before I couldn't help but comment, "…Maybe they just didn't find you as charming and your fake smile definitely didn't help. Just be a better human being next time or something."

"…I'm going home." Viper said dejectedly as he slumped towards the exit causing me to sigh before following him.

After exiting the establishment, I told Viper, "Be careful on your way back, I have to stay here for something." He gave me a lazy wave still in his dejected state. With that, he continued to walk away back towards our place of temporary residence leaving me to wait outside the brothel.

With a tap of my feet, I found myself on the roof of the building and decided to take some time to practice my **Meditation**. It took 30 minutes before I opened my eyes and stated, "Lord Jiraiya…it took you a while."

"What can I say? The women just didn't want to leave the handsome and gallant Master Jiraiya alone. Well, I don't expect a child such as yourself to possibly understand." The man said offhandedly.

"What I understand…" I said, before turning around, "Is that they were doing their job."

That got him to regard me seriously. "I've been out and about away from the village for a while so I'm not up to date on what's been going on in the village but…" he looked me up and down. "I had no idea Danzo was picking them younger."

"A product of the circumstances." I said blandly. "The reason why I'm here and why I assume you're here as well."

Jiraiya rubbed his chin. "I suppose that's true." With that, he placed his hands to his sides and looked at me through half-lidded eyes. "So? Was there a reason you disturbed me from my job? You should know by now that the shadiest parts of town always have the brightest information flow."

I slightly nodded my head, "I simply wished to confirm if your mission was in conflict or cohort with ours and if you would want us to develop new plans taking your presence into consideration."

The white-haired man raised a brow, "You're a really diligent kid you know? Reminds me of that brat I taught, though you're much more uptight than he is…" he shook his head, "The only reason I'm here was that I was around the area and a contact told me about the peculiarities of this clan's kinjutsu. Needless to say, I couldn't just sit still after that, so I decided to see if I could get information on which individuals in this clan had access to it."

"…That's part of my team's secondary mission." I stated before asking, "Have you found anything useful then?"

"Nothing substantial yet…" Jiraiya paused and rummaged his pockets before taking out a scroll and tossing it to me. "A list of names and addresses of the higher ranking members of the Tsuchigumo clan. Not all of them have access to the kinjutsu, but a good majority do."

"Thank you…" I stated before putting the scroll in my inventory. "What do you plan to do now Lord Jiraiya?"

"I'll be around the area, after all, I have to make sure your team properly secures the objective. In the meantime, I'll see what other information I can obtain."

"I see…thank you." I said with a short bow.

Jiraiya waved me off, "No need kid, it's part of our job anyway. Anything else?"

I paused for a moment before I thought of something, "…As a matter of fact, there is."

"Oh?" The white-haired Sannin asked with a brow raised,

I looked at him plainly, "Shiranami, he seems to be the son of the man named Hato and I believe he is well respected around here. If it wouldn't be too much to ask, could you put some surveillance around him?"

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, "An enemy?"

"I can't be sure yet." I started, before continuing, "But he is hostile towards the Leaf and his father seems to be in a high position in this village. I would feel more secure is I knew what he was doing behind my back."

"I see." The Sannin stated before nodding, "Very well I'll watch him and let you know if anything pops up."

"Thank you." I said quietly.

"As I said before, it's part of the job." Jiraiya replied with a slight smile, "Alright, good night kid." And a moment later, he disappeared into a swirl of leaves.

I looked at the spot he had disappeared from before standing up and dusting myself off. I looked up into the night sky and ran through a couple things in my mind before I was snapped out of my reverie from the dispelling of my clones.

" _They completely mapped out the place…"_ I thought as I reviewed my clones' memories and made a mental map of the relatively small hidden village. With this information, it would be easier for me to locate the individuals on Jiraiya's list.

I looked up at the night sky and thought _, "I suppose I should get back…"_ before I jumped from the building to the next and made my way back towards my group's place of residence.

After arriving and entering the building, I felt around with my **Empathy** …and promptly regretted it.

" _They all need to get laid…"_ I thought as I felt from them some deeply…amorous emotions. I was pretty sure they were all sleeping and I couldn't pinpoint which individuals had those feelings, but it felt really odd for me to feel the sexual frustrations they were experiencing.

I was only 7 after all.

Regardless, I sat down and reduced the range of **Empathy** to just the surface of my skin before opening my inventory and taking out the scroll Jiraiya had given me. With a quick read through, I memorized the names on the list and placed it back in my inventory for later. I would let the others know about this information tomorrow in the morning. For now, though, I would be keeping watch.

With a light sigh, I rested on the couch in a comfortable position and began to practice **Meditation**. I had never once stopped thinking about that man I had met that day. There was no doubt in my mind that he knew why I was here and he had the answers to many of my questions about my faulty memory and more importantly, who he was.

" _Level 100_ _ **Meditation**_ _huh…?"_ I thought. I had never forgotten what he told me and I had been working towards meeting him again, but this skill hadn't made it easy. Compared to many of the other skills I had been training with, it leveled up much slower in its later stages and I wouldn't be surprised if it took me another couple years before I could get to my goal.

" _However, nothing worth getting comes easy."_

* * *

 **As for the Luck thing, I am inclined to agree. I have no idea what I had even planned to do with it earlier but I had it there anyway just because.**

 **Weird, I know.**

 **Regardless, I've taken your suggestions to heart and will remove the Luck stat from this chapter and all my previous ones as well. It really won't serve my story at all.**

 **As for the stat points, you'll just have to wait : )**


	11. Chapter 11

'Normal Speech'

'Thoughts'

'Bijuu/Summons/Gamer'

'Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts'

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like reading fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

Author's Note: I want to really quickly let you all know that I will have to be posting later on Sundays. I'm back in college and am a Junior so my Sunday mornings will be a little busier with volunteer work and early morning studying and all that good stuff. I just don't want you all to expect my chapters to be released in the morning or early afternoon like they used to be.

* * *

Chapter 11

 _"Where…is this?"_

I thought…or possibly said as I looked around at my surroundings. I was floating in an endless sea of darkness with no exit in sight, so I turned to look around and see if there was anything here.

 _"This place feels familiar…have I been here before?"_ I said to myself, my astral body floating up and down as I put on a thoughtful expression.

Suddenly, I paused and squinted my eyes as I saw a glitter or a sparkle some distance away, like a star in the night sky. Immediately after, more "stars" appeared in my view until the darkness was filled with them.

 _"What…"_ before I could even complete my thoughts, I felt a pull and my visual perspective began to change as if I was traveling at warp speed.

I didn't get to contemplate any further as I suddenly stopped and around me was-

My eyes magnified…how could it not?

 _"What…is this?"_ Surrounding my body, floating in the void, were numerous green crystals hanging off of a thick luminescent branch? that connected them all. Each crystal depicted fantastical scenes that even had me gazing in some wonder.

 _'A man in a high tech suit of red armor was flying a missile towards a portal in the air. It detonated, sending his body crashing towards the ground but also closing the spatial anomaly.'_

Suddenly, my perspective changed as I was shifted to another area that had green crystals.

 _A normal looking brown haired boy and a blue-haired beautiful woman drinking beer at a bar with many people joining in the festivities…and the girl throwing up rainbows after._

Once more, my body shifted to another area.

 _A brown haired boy getting stabbed in the chest with a lance of light, a girl with black feathered wings looking down at him condescendingly._

And again my perspective changed

 _A gigantic red beast with glowing red markings over its body fighting a giant blue whale with glowing markings all over its body. The red beast changed the landscapes with his attacks while the blue whale altered the seas and even though I wasn't there, I could almost feel continental…no planetary levels of energy being released from their attacks. I knew that if they so much as breathed in my general direction, I would die._

And again…

 _Another scene depicted a group of individuals huddled around in a circle, their hands interlocked and above them was a black dragon who seemed to be radiating an immense amount of energy, not nearly as much as the red beast and the blue whale, but it was impressive nonetheless and would still easily kill me. The black dragon sucked in a breath and released a powerful blast of energy towards the group of individuals before the scene reset, not allowing me to know the outcome._

Again and again, my perspective shifted as my body traveled to numerous different crystals, each one depicting different scenes. The settings were either intense or mellow, some would be considered heart rendering if I wasn't so emotionally stunted…

As I sifted through the numerous floating crystals, I immediately froze. Cold sweat began to seep from my astral form as a large crystal became prominent in my vision.

 _Death…_

 _Destruction…_

 _Individuals fighting for their home…_

 _Women mourning their deceased husbands…_

 _Terror…_

 _Panic…_

A giant beast was in my view, it's nine tails waving around, each swing causing small hurricanes to form, buildings to be destroyed, and people to lose their lives.

 _"The Ninetails…?"_

I reached forward to touch the screen as I saw the beast wreaking havoc on what was no doubt Konoha, the Hokage monuments clearly visible in the background.

Immediately, I was pulled away and the glittering crystals became further and further away from my view before darkness took ahold me once more.

* * *

 **Congratulations! 'Meditation' has leveled up by 1!**

 **Meditation (Active) Lvl 86 [48.67%].**

 **Meditation is a skill created through continuous inner focus. Meditation helps to sharpen focus and order thoughts, and it increases clarity of mind and awareness of the body.**

 **Passively increase INT by 172%.**

 **Passively increase WIS by 172%.**

 **Passively increase ENGY by 172%**

 **HP and CP regeneration increase by 860% when active.**

 **(NOTE: Cannot be activated during combat. At higher levels, you are able to better sit still and the rate of HP and CP regeneration increases.)**

I immediately snapped my eyes open and took deep breaths before placing a palm over my face while in thought. "That was not a dream."

It was a statement of fact because ever since I had been in this world, I had never once dreamt. I wasn't sure if it was because of Gamer's Mind or because of that guy who seemed to inhabit my soul, but not once had I ever dreamt.

Therefore.

"Those scenes…that environment…were real." I was familiar with some of the scenes depicted in those screens but I still couldn't remember the entire background or the worlds they came from.

More importantly.

"The Ninetails…was that real? Is that something that could happen or will happen?." So many thoughts went through my mind at the scene, but I shook my head. "I don't even know if or when it will happen, furthermore the Ninetails is in Kushina as of this moment…if she becomes pregnant again, I will have to let her know to be extra careful."

With that, I stopped my musings and thought of the positives, like how I had finally leveled up my Meditation skill. It was as if I had broken through some sort of mental barrier or something.

"It's about time…it only took me a month and a half…" I thought while cracking my neck before looking out the window and gazing at the slowly rising sun.

"It's about time they wake up…" I said aloud and snapped my finger, creating a clone besides me. It went to wake up my teammates allowing me time to get up and stretch my limbs before the area became crowded.

A few moments later, I could feel the churning of emotions coming from my teammates, signaling that they were waking. I sat back down on the couch, but no sooner did I feel a chakra signature nearby.

"Fun night?" The voice of Kotoe asked as she plopped down next to me.

"…It was fine."

She opened her mouth to comment, but the voice of Viper replied before she could, effectively cutting her off. "Oh, no doubt for you it was fine. Lady snatcher." The man had slightly red eyes from what appeared to be lack of sleep and looked at me with a slight grimace.

Kotoe raised a brow at that statement, "Lady snatcher?"

Viper widened his eyes for a moment before stuttering, "w-well, y-you see, last n-night-"

I sighed. "…He took me to a brothel."

Instantly the air coagulated.

"What?" Kotoe asked, eyes narrowing as she looked at Viper.

Before the man could reply, the voice of Wolf sounded out, "What exactly are you teaching children Viper?"

I turned to the sound, having already noted her presence along with that of Turtle, Boar, and the rest. "…you guys have been there a while."

"Don't mind me, I'm just enjoying the show. It'll probably be the only interesting thing to happen today anyway." Was Turtle's uncaring reply.

Boar merely sighed and his two teammates watched on tentatively.

And with that, all the attention centralized upon Viper's slightly sweating and nervous form. "W-Wait, there was actually a really good reason I went there!"

"Oh?" Kotoe questioned

"Do tell." Wolf asked

"Remember the mission detail!" He said quickly, "We were told to rendezvous with Jiraiya of the Sannin in order to obtain some information he collected! And since everyone is aware of the type of man he is, I thought that the brothel would be a good place to start!"

At that, both women halted their glares, but I blinked, "…Wait, we were supposed to meet with him? I was not aware of this." I honestly believed that Jiraiya had been moving separately and had been on his own mission. I didn't know our groups were meant to meet.

"You didn't tell him?" Turtle asked Kotoe in speculation

The woman thought for a moment before shrugging "Well it's his own fault that I forgot to mention it, don't put the blame on me."

I slightly tilted my head and pointed at my face, "me?"

"Ohh stop with the innocent act." Kotoe replied with a roll of her eyes. "I remember now that I was going to explain that part of the mission to you after telling you how Minato wasn't available, but you got too excited and cut me off before I could explain." After that, she shrugged and finished, "I simply forgot about it afterward until now."

I paused as the memory resurfaced in my mind

* * *

 _"…I recall Lord Danzo mentioning that it was a type of Fuuinjutsu seal. As a matter of fact, Minato was his first option to take the mission but since his team was on a-"_

 _I slammed the book shut, effectively cutting her off before I stood up. "What's the mission?"_

* * *

Huh.

Kotoe rolled her eyes at me before she turned back to Viper who had been slowly inching away, "Don't think I forgot about you." Viper froze, allowing my teacher to continue, "Since you say you went there to meet up with Jiraiya, then surely you must have gotten some important piece of information to share with us."

I stared at the man with full eyes as sweat seeped from his pores, "W-well he apparently wasn't in yesterday so-"

"…Here it is." I said, handing the scroll that Jiraiya had given me to Kotoe.

Once again, the air froze. "I hope you thoroughly enjoyed your time there Bai-kun~." Wolf said with a smile that didn't quite seem right, causing the man to back away.

As she moved closer to him one step at a time, he looked towards me before mouthing the word 'traitor' to which I gave him a blank look and give him the sign language for 'You are pathetic'

However, before anything could happen, Kotoe and I suddenly turned to the door, our movements attracting the attention of the rest of the occupants.

"What's wrong?" Boar asked, noting our reactions.

Kotoe tilted her head towards the door and I supplied,"…It's a non-hostile and slightly familiar chakra signature." I supplemented.

Before anyone could contemplate further, there was a knock on the door.

"Consider yourself lucky." Wolf stated before walking towards the door. "We'll continue this conversation later."

Viper shivered slightly at her tone, but seeing his pathetic state made me wonder, "… do all men grow up to have some irrational fear of women that makes them so…unsightly? Or does Wolf simply have both her teammates whipped? I wonder if Boar and Turtle have some irrational fears…Hmm, food for thought."

As my odd thoughts concluded, Wolf opened the door, revealing the figure of the man who had carried off that little girl Hotaru from Boar. "Tonbee if I'm not mistaken…what am I saying, I have Eidetic Memory."

"What is it?" Wolf asked succinctly

The man replied in a calm manner, "Lord Gyoja would like to formally invite you to breakfast. He figured that as elite shinobi, you would be up around this time, so he sent me here to let you know."

Here, Boar stepped up, "We gladly accept your invitation."

Tonbee nodded and took a scroll out from his shirt, "Just follow the directions on that scroll. We will be eating in about 45 minutes." And with that, the man gave a slight bow before walking away.

Boar examined the scroll for a moment before looking at Kotoe, "Anything?"

"There's no residual chakra coming from it." Kotoe said as she closed her eyes in focus.

Boar nodded before looking at me, so I shook my head in the negative, "…I felt no malice from the man and I don't sense anything from the scroll. It should be all clear."

Boar seemed satisfied with that as he tucked the scroll away, "We can never be too careful in a foreign land, especially with the unfriendly atmosphere here."

"Did their nonexistent standing ovation at our arrival give that away?" Monkey said somewhat sarcastically.

"True, they certainly didn't seem that happy to see us." Turtle said with a thoughtful expression.

"At the end of the day, we should simply keep our guard up." Saying this, Boar turned back to my teacher, "More importantly, what is the information that Lord Jiraiya gave us?"

"…The names and addresses of all the influential individuals who might have access to what we are looking for." I replied, centralizing the attention on me. "I had my clones scout yesterday and comparing their knowledge with the information Lord Jiraiya gave, all these individuals seemed to live in the high-class residential district in the center of town. That should also be where the village leader, En no Gyoja lives."

While I had been explaining this, Kotoe had already spread out the scroll on a table, allowing everyone to see and memorize the names on the list. "This is pretty good timing." My teacher said. "Since we are heading there in a few anyways, we can take some time to memorize the landscape."

As everyone nodded in agreement, I took a step back and sat on the ground before taking out a large piece of blank paper, my Fuuinjutsu paint brush, and a storage seal filled with ink.

"Yoru?" Kotoe asked speculatively.

"…I had my clones survey the area beforehand with all their collected information being stored in here." I said, pointing to my head. I dipped my brush on the ink storage seal before carefully drawing on the blank sheet of paper.

With the incredible calligraphy skills I had developed for Fuuinjutsu coupled with my rapid improvement, I was able to accurately draw out the mental image of the Tsuchigumo village onto the paper. With my Eidetic Memory, I cross-referenced the names and addresses of the individuals on Jiraiya's list with the information my clones had gathered. I circled those areas on my makeshift map and put a star on top of my group's current position.

"…This here is our current position." I said, pointing at the star. "And this here should be the high-class residential district where we should be headed towards." I concluded, dragging my finger towards the multiple circles in the center of town.

At that, Boar pulled out the map given to him by Tonbee and cross-referenced it to the one I had drawn, "The one I have has certain key points omitted from it and only leads me straight to the village leader's home, but other than that, it's a perfect match." Boar said, before patting my head a couple of times, "Good work kid."

I nodded my head, "I'm just doing my job."

Boar smirked before looking at the rest of us, "Alright then, get ready and look presentable for our audience with the village leader. We'll leave in 20."

As everyone went their separate ways to get changed, I looked at Kotoe, "…What exactly should I wear?"

"Just don't look like a bum." Was her reply. "Don't think too much about it and wear whatever makes you feel comfortable. Just make sure it's not inappropriate." And with that, she stood up and disappeared to her room,

And so I nodded my head, and put on a thoughtful expression, "…I suppose I'll go casual."

* * *

"Fresh produce from Tsuchigumo soil! I guarantee it tastes delicious!"

"Freshly butchered meat! Get your freshly butchered meat here!"

"Imported herbs and spices from the Land of Spices!"

"Whole grain rice from the Land of Rice!"

I turned my head towards the different merchants who were advertising and listened to the hustle and bustle of the early morning Tsuchigumo atmosphere. I was currently in a pair of black sweatpants, a long-sleeved black shirt with extra cloth near the neck area to function as a face mask and a pair of simple lightweight dark shoes.

"This place is quite lively in the morning isn't it?" Kotoe asked no one in particular as she walked beside me.

"That's quite true." Kazemona, also known as Wolf, stated, waving the small fan she had in her hand. "This atmosphere isn't too bad."

"Regardless," Tsuchiyo, aka Boar, began. "Remember to be on high alert and observe your surroundings."

We all nodded at that and continued towards our destination. Since this was a somewhat formal thing, we didn't have our Anbu masks or clothing with us, but I had no doubt that everyone was still carrying weapons somewhere on their person.

Kazemona's fan, for example, was a miniature version of the battle fan Suna wind style users used. If she channeled a little bit of wind nature chakra through it while waving, it could still easily cut up a normal person and cause substantial body damage to the surroundings. As shinobi, it was expected of us to always be ready for battle, so as long as we weren't waving around kunai like fools, even if the village leader knew we were stashing weapons, he would turn a blind eye.

It wasn't like he was defenseless anyway.

Plus we were allies.

"We're here." Boar said, causing us all to stop in our tracks. In front of us was a large, traditional style, single story Japanese house. In front of the door were two Tsuchigumo shinobi who noticed us and motioned for us to halt.

"State your purpose."

Boar reached into the sleeve of his shirt and pulled out the scroll Tonbee had giving him while replying, "We were invited."

The second guard took the scroll and read through it for a moment before seeing something he supposedly liked and nodding his head towards the first guard.

"Master Gyoja awaits your presence. The dining area will be visible as soon as you enter." He said before opening the door and stepping away, his companion following suit.

After we came in, we took off our shoes and made our way towards the dining room that was in view of the entrance.

As soon as we arrived at the dining area, I took a quick sweep of the surroundings, noting they there were only familiar faces around the table along with 8 open seats. There was Tonbee, the little blond girl Hotaru, Hato, and his son Shiranami.

"Welcome." The village leader stated before gesturing towards the empty spots, "Please, do sit."

With a short bow, we made our way towards the empty spots and sat around the table, food having already been prepared for the occasion.

"You all shouldn't be so uptight." The man said, grabbing a handful of fresh fruit. "This isn't anything too formal after all."

With that said, our reservations lowered a little and everyone began to grab food and eat, though it was done in relative silence. I took this moment to observe everyone around us and noted that their emotions were quite reserved and even Shiranami previous hostility was replaced with more cold indifference.

"At least he's calmed down a little…" I thought before blinking as I felt a gaze on my face. I turned to the source and noticed that the little blond haired girl was looking at me with a peculiar gaze causing me to ask, "…is there something on my face?"

Hotaru knitted her brows cutely before asking, "How can you eat with that mask on?"

"Ohh that little trick…still though…" I thought before refocusing on the bowl of rice I had been eating, "…It's a secret."

"Hmph, fine be that way." The girl said, crossing her arms, but then she looked at me more closely and with narrowed eyes, "Why do you wear a mask? Did something happen to your face?"

After swallowing the food in my mouth, I replied, "…because it looks cool."

"Pfft." Kotoe suddenly laughed before coughing lightly into her hand, "Sorry that was disrespectful of me."

However, it seemed as if Hotaru's interaction with me had softened up the mood slightly as the leader waved his hand dismissively with a smile, "Don't mind it one bit, the young are always amusing to watch."

With that, the tension completely dissipated, causing Tsuchiyo to state, "I have to say, your village is very lively and high spirited, not at all like a village that has been under attack. It makes me wonder if we were even needed here."

The clan leader chuckled lightly while stroking his beard, "It's true that if you simply take a look around the village, there seems to be no fear in the hearts of my villagers, however…" Gyoja said, sighing, "underneath their assured smiles and carefree actions, I know that their hearts are uneasy."

There was a moment of awkward silence following his statement, the sounds of chopsticks to plates audible to the ears.

"There goes the mood…" I thought while eating silently, however, no sooner did the man give a short, loud laugh before stating, "Well, I believe in your Kage's insight. If he chose your team for the job, then I trust that you'll be more than capable of helping my clan."

That seemed to ease the awkwardness a little as Tsuchiyo replied with a slight smile, "I thank you for your confidence in our abilities. We'll do our utmost to help your village against these attacks."

The jovial atmosphere, however, was short-lived.

"…Whose fault do you think this is?" A voice quietly said, but loud enough for everyone at the table to hear.

Gyoja sighed lightly while Hato looked at his son reproachfully, but with a sorrowful gaze, "Shiranami, I understand your pain more than anytime else, however-"

"However what?" The boy said heatedly, his knuckles turning white from his clenched fists. "Understanding my pain won't bring her back!" He exclaimed.

"Then what?" Hato replied, his voice increasing in volume, "What do you want us to do? What do you want me to do?"

Shiranami took a calming breath before looking at my group sternly, the emotion vanishing from his face. "For starters, we could begin by not aligning ourselves with the people involved with her death."

"They are not the enemy." The clan leader said calmly, but with a slight pressure in his tone. "The Leaf is doing what they can to help us against our true foes. They are where your anger should be directed towards, not our allies."

At this point, Tsuchiyo decided to chime in, in order to placate Shiranami, "The Hokage takes the promise he made to your clan with the utmost sincerity. As long as my team is within the walls of this village, we will do whatever we can to protect it."

The dark haired adolescent looked down at his plate before stating, "…If your so called 'Great Villages' hadn't started this war, we wouldn't be having this conversation." With that, he placed his chopsticks down on his plate and stood up with it in hand. "…Master, I would like to be excused."

Gyoja looked at him before sighing lightly and nodding his head, signaling the boy to leave. With a light bow in respect, he headed towards the door and left the area.

"Well, there goes the mood…again."

"I must apologize for my son's behavior." Hato said with a forlorn sigh, "It's just that these past few couple years haven't been kind."

"Please, there's no need for you to apologize." My teacher said calmly, looking at the man. "In our profession, we don't expect to be well liked by people outside our village anyway." Here she paused and took a sip of tea before continuing, "Though if you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened?"

I could sense the pain in his heart grow deeper before he sighed, "This war hasn't been kind to anyone…it cost us the life of his mother…my wife."

Kotoe paused the teacup that was to reach her mouth before lightly sighing in sympathy, "I suppose I can easily understand where his hatred of war stems from, but I'm curious where his hatred of us stems from?"

"My wife was also a shinobi of the village and my closest partner." Hato began explaining. "She and I were sent out on a mission that brought us close to the Kirigakure borders." He paused and looked somewhat distant before sighing. "About halfway through completing the mission, we had the misfortune of getting caught in a skirmish between some Kiri and Kumo nin."

He paused once more and looked down before closing his eyes. "It was only due to luck and her self sacrifice that I was able to make it out alive, but in the process, she was gravely injured and we had no medical shinobi skilled enough to heal her." He looked back up at us before lightly sighing, "In the end, she succumbed to her wounds with our son watching over her weakened form."

There was a moment of silence after that before Tsuchiyo asked, "If that is the case, that still doesn't explain why he seems to hold us in contempt."

There was a light smile on Hato's face but hidden within was a sense of sadness, "Shiranami has always been a bright kid and as a matter of fact I have no doubt he'll easily surpass me soon, that being said…" he paused and sighed, "his mind came to the conclusion that the war between the hidden villages was all to blame for her early passing and I have never seen him smile ever since."

"I suppose I am partly to blame." The village leader chimed in, gathering all our gazes. "It was my decision to send you both there because I was confident in your capabilities, but I had been too rash." Gyoja closed his eyes for a moment before finishing. "There are certain things I would change about that day if I could, but I had let my anger get the best of me at that time-"

"You aren't to blame Master." Hato said, lightly shaking his head. "As shinobi, it was our duty and there were things you couldn't have known about that mission." Hato looked at us before continuing, "What my son despises isn't the Leaf village in and of itself but the idea of the 'Great Hidden Villages' due to their own parts in festering the atmosphere of the war. To him, if the Great Villages had not started this war, then he would not have had to experience his loss."

There was a short moment of silence at the table at that statement, however-

"He's too naive." Kazemona stated before taking a sip of tea. "The Great Villages are under their respective Daimyo and obtain funding through them. Since the founding of the shinobi village system, the Five shinobi Villages had always had the backing of their respective Daimyo before waging war. On a superficial level if the kid wanted to put the blame on anyone it would have to be placed on the Daimyos' heads, however-"

The blond haired woman placed her teacup on the table. "War is waged for the most asinine, selfish or simple of reasons: Land, money, power, love, hatred, the list goes on. In this case, the war was waged because the current balance of power was threatening to collapse and the reign of the Five Great Countries was crumbling, but do you know who actually made the first move in the war?"

Everyone at the table remained silent for the answer was well known, but Kazemona continued regardless, "It was the smaller nations who got too greedy for their own good and started making trouble around the borders of the 5 Great nations. Those skirmishes festered and spread around the barriers between the nations until they could no longer sit back." The woman picked up her teacup once more before continuing, "Iwa was simply the first to act and stop the skirmishes around their borders, but why would they stop there? It would be much easier to just spread and capture the small villages so that they wouldn't have to deal with them again, unfortunately-"

"Those villages also acted as barriers between the great nations." My teacher followed up causing Kazemona to smile and take a sip of her drink. Kotoe continued, "If Iwa captured those small villages, it would threaten the legitimacy of Konoha's borders and so we had to step in."

"It caused a domino effect in which the other Great Nations deemed it necessary to start invading the smaller countries in order to prevent an uprising." Kazemona continued once again, picking off where Kotoe left. "And since their actions caused a conflict of interest amongst the other villages, well the end result is as you see now. In other words-" here she placed her cup down before opening her eyes, "The small nations could be considered a greater contributing factor to the current state of affairs and if you really wanted to blame something more intrinsic, I suppose human nature would also be at fault. The greed of the smaller nations caused them to start skirmishes between each other in order to obtain more power while the Five villages were weakened, likewise, the Five Countries, feeling their pride trampled and fear of their way of life being threatened decided to retaliate."

There was another pause of silence before the village leader sighed, "Envy, greed, pride, fear, they are all emotions that can drive individuals to do unsavory things, let alone a group of them." He paused before slightly shaking his head, "At the end of the day the only thing that matters in this world is power, whether it be political or personal. Without the kind of power necessary to play a role in this war, we will all be forced to either endure or rely on those stronger than us."

His words made the rest of us quiet as we knew he was mainly referencing himself, but my mind was elsewhere, "Strength to stop a war..."

As I was now, I was simply too weak.

I never had any illusion that I was strong, after all, my teacher was still stronger than me if we went by our plain stats alone. I hadn't been the only one improving in the past years. In the grand scheme of things, I wasn't an important factor in this war. My presence in the world at this point was pretty much inconsequential. Even though my emotions were dulled and I didn't care much for anything, I still did want to live, but with my current strength level, that was impossible.

If I were to go up against someone like Kushina, Hiruzen, Or Jiraiya, I had no doubt in my mind that they would be able to kill me.

With a finger.

This wasn't just a difference in level or ability that made me think that, but a complete difference in strength, a difference that I would not have been aware of if not for the change that popped up after I had reached level 50.

If I wanted to live a calm life.

With no worries.

Or regrets.

I needed to grow stronger.

Much stronger.

"I suppose I can test some things later…"

"On that note." Boar spoke up, his voice cleaving the sullen atmosphere, "How do the defenses in this place look like? Coming in I saw that the surroundings were short on manpower and there were several other deficiencies in the defensive capabilities of the wall around your city."

Seeing as the conversation had begun going back to a more productive route, the village leader answered immediately, "The last few attacks have caused substantial damage to our forces as a lot of my men have been injured. They also haven't been kind to our wall as you've stated. Mainly we will need more eyes and ears on the northern portion of the villager where the attacks have been more frequent."

We all took in this information and Tsuchiyo nodded his head before asking another important question, "Who exactly have been the primary aggressors? Along the way, I know we were nearly ambushed by Mist shinobi but have there been other major or minor villages participating in these attacks?"

The older man shook his head, "No it's mainly been The Mist that has been harassing us and occasionally we have had run-ins with Lightning Country, but those have been few and far in between."

"The Mist really doesn't have anything better to do, do they?" Kazemona muttered.

"Can you blame them though?" My teacher said ill humoredly, "They've lost the least in this war due to their territory being in the middle of the ocean. They don't have any small nations to act as buffers between them and the other big countries due to their location acting as a natural buffer zone. They didn't have to cull any uprisings from any the smaller nations and really had no reason to take part in the war."

"That is the gist of it." The village leader said.

"I see…" Tsuchiyo muttered with a thoughtful expression before nodding. "Let me know about any other weak points of the village and we can work out a plan of action."

The village leader nodded and began to describe his defensive layout, my teacher and Kazemona adding in their input as well.

"Adult talk…" I thought, deciding to only pay half-attention. With my Eidetic Memory, as long as I was paying marginal attention, I would remember all the information. I noticed Tonbee leave the room for whatever reason and decided not to dwell on it.

I turned my gaze towards Hotaru who had been silent ever since Shiranami left. I could sense a growing sadness in her through my Empathy and so, being the kind and considerate individual I was, I asked, "…did your parents die too?"

"…"

There was no doubt in my mind that I would need a shower after having received such a dirty glare from my inquiry. It was a good thing the adults were too busy talking about perimeter set-up points to listen in on my conversation or I might have been scolded by my teacher.

"There is something wrong with you." The blond haired girl stated before her expression became slightly forlorn once more. "…I miss her."

I blinked, "I'm assuming you mean your mother…do you and Shiranami share the same mother?" I asked curiously.

She shook her head, "No, I didn't really know his mother, but my mom…" She bit her lip as sadness seeped deeper into her, "…I miss her."

I rested my cheek against my palm, "What about your dad?"

Again she shook her head, "I never got to know him since he died when I was too young to remember."

At this moment, Tonbee re-entered the room with refreshments in hand and placed them around the table before standing next to Hotaru and asking her kindly, "Lady Hotaru, let me take your empty plate for you."

The girl's expression brightened up every so slightly as she replied, "Thank you Tonbee."

The man nodded in reply, "It is my duty, there is no need for you to thank me." And with that, he took her empty plate and I watched him leave once more, noting that Hotaru's emotions were slightly brighter than before.

"…well even if you don't have your parents, there still seems to be people in your life who care for you." I stated to the blonde.

She blinked and gave a light smile, "I suppose that's true."

Eventually, after having my fill and partially zoning out of the conversation, the long breakfast ended as the head of the table stood up. "Thank you for joining me today and discussing our courses of action. With you by our side, I feel like my village will prosper just a little more."

"The thanks is all ours." Boar said standing up, the rest of us following suit. "We will do what we can to protect your village on our honor as Leaf shinobi."

The village leader smiled, "I feel assured already." He then looked at Tonbee before stating, "Please do show our guests out, there are some things that I am unfortunately late to attending to."

"As you wish." The man said with a bow, before giving us a nod and leading us out the door.

"I again would like to thank you on behalf of our village." The man said with a bow before continuing, "I believe you will be able to make your way back to your residence, but just in case…" he fished out a scroll from his pocket and handed it to Tsuchiyo, "This is a general map of the village with your residence marked here." He said, pointing at a specific area on the eastern part of the map. "Again thank you." And with that, the man went back into the house.

There was a moment of silence before a collective sigh rang out amongst my group.

"That was way too stiff." Turtle said whole rubbing his legs. "Having to sit in a seiza for that long makes my legs numb."

My teacher rolled her eyes, "Come on Yurai, it wasn't that bad, though I do admit that sitting formally for such a long time gets uncomfortable."

Yes, Turtle's real name was Yurai.

"That's what I'm saying." The silver haired individual stated while cracking his neck, before looking at Boar, "Well, what's the next course of action?"

"First thing's first." The man said, tucking the scroll away, "This village is down on manpower as most of them are injured. It would help if we could remedy that a little. Yoru."

"…on it." I said before 20 clones of me appeared around us. They all went towards the direction of the General hospital of this town in order to help heal the injured Tsuchigumo shinobi.

Tsuchiyo nodded his head, "Good now with that done, Me, Viper, Tiger, And Monkey will survey the landscape more thoroughly in the cardinal directions. Yoru, you can take a little break from your work last night while the rest of you should keep your guard up. Any suggestion?"

At the lack of response, Tsuchiyo nodded, "Then let's begin."

With that, he and his assigned group spread out leaving Kotoe, Yurai, Kazemona and I at the area.

"I'll be at the market district." Kazemona stated, her blond hair waving in the wind as she turned around. "I'll meet you all back at our place." And no sooner did she vanish from sight.

"I'll be off running around." Yurai said before quickly dashing off.

"And I'll stay back at our building." Kotoe stated before patting my head, "Stay safe Yoru."

"…I'll be fine."

She smiled and vanished as well leaving me alone in the relatively empty surroundings.

"I really shouldn't be doing this now, but I need to make up for my lack of physical training…" I thought before sensing if there were any human in my general vicinity.

Seeing as the coast was all clear, I thought to myself, "ID Create: Empty." And immediately, the world around me changed.

From my position as the epicenter, a dome spread throughout and changed the landscape of the surroundings. The sun was dark red and the sky was purple, there was neither wind nor sound of birds chirping. It was eerily quiet, however, my enhanced hearing picked up the sounds of moaning and groaning coming from the distance.

"This place…" I thought to myself. I didn't really bother training here since I was mainly focused on research and when I did train, there was no need for me to come here. The Monster IDs were good for leveling up and possibly training skills, but aside from that it actually wasn't all that special in terms of growing my personal strength. I could still get practice for my skills through shadow clones and so I didn't need to be here for that and leveling only gave me stat points which I had only used a few of in these past years. All in all, I would probably never be here unless I wanted to get away for a little bit.

Despite this, I had been spending more time in the Monster IDs ever since a change had occurred to me not so long ago which lead me to believe that speeding up my leveling was beneficial.

 _ **"** **Menu** **"**_ I thought, opening up a list in front of my view.

 **[Status]**

 **[Skills]**

 **[Attributes]**

 **[Inventory]**

 **[Display Settings]**

 _"I swear that last one wasn't there before…"_ I thought before lightly sighing and clicking on Attributes causing the interface to change before a list popped up in front of my view.

* * *

Click on the attribute below to see its description

 **[Visible Attributes]**

 **-Hit Points (HP)**

 **-Chakra Points (CP)**

 **-Chakra Control (CC)**

 **-Strength (STR)**

 **-Vitality (VIT)**

 **-Dexterity (DEX)**

 **-Intelligence (INT)**

 **-Wisdom (WIS)**

 **-Energy (ENGY)**

 **[Hidden Attributes]**

 **-Tiers (T)**

 **-Physical Damage (P. DMG)**

 **-Energy Damage (E. DMG)**

 **-Spiritual Damage (S. DMG)**

 **-Attack Potency (AP)**

 **-Speed (SPD)**

 **-Lifting Strength (LS)**

 **-Striking Strength (SS)**

 **-Durability (DUR)**

* * *

I had scanned this list plenty of times before.

There were so many aspects to my ability that I had never even explored simply because I had simply never thought to look into them. I had always simply assumed my Status and Skills were all the components that made up this game-like interface of mine. I hummed to myself before clicking on Physical Damage. While the other Attributes had a lot of important information that I constantly read through (even though it was unnecessary due to my Eidetic Memory) the one that was relevant to my current situation right now was Physical Damage. However, I couldn't help but briefly turn my gaze towards the glowing Tiers attribute and sighing.

I focused on the information before me.

* * *

 **Physical Damage (P. DMG):**

 **Physical Damage** is a hidden attribute that determines the damage output of your physical attacks. The scale of damage slightly increases with each level you earn, therefore, the damage might need to be calculated differently in order to accurately represent the total damage output of your attacks.

(NOTE: Enemies of a lower Tier than you will experience more damage when you attack them. Enemies of a higher Tier will experience less damage when you attack them.)

* * *

My gaze was leveled on the information detailing how my damage would increase as my level did. This was only one of the few things that lead me to decide that leveling up would be in my best interest even if my stats lagged behind slightly. The only reason I had found this menu was because of the notification I had gotten when I had hit level 50.

* * *

 _After reaching Lvl 50, you can now view [Hidden Attributes] in Menu_

* * *

This was also the event that caused me to eventually discover the **Menu** function of my ability.

My physical damage output had increased from before, but it wasn't enough to be noticeable. Taken this way, my damage would actually start to grow at a slightly exponential rate as I gained more stats. With the knowledge of these new attributes as well, I was beginning to wonder if it would be better to just increase my level, thereby increasing my overall damage output. It wouldn't be noticeable immediately, but it would add up eventually.

 _"First thing's first…"_ I thought before creating multiple copies of myself and having them train in my water style techniques. Since I was so close to maximum proficiency in it, I might as well see if I could get it done with.

With that, the 180 copies of myself went off into the distance in order to spam water techniques.

"Now then…" I said to myself before clicking on the Tiers icon.

 _"Tiers…"_ I thought as I tapped my chin.

There was a reason why I believed that I wouldn't stand even a fraction of a chance against in a somewhat serious fight between myself and a shinobi like Jiraiya or Minato.

It was mostly because of the difference in Tiers between us.

More specifically, their Tier advantage over me.

There were many different Tiers depending on the level of the individual and they were measured by a number followed by a subunit letter. The lower the number, the greater the tier, for example, civilians had a tier of around **10-C** which was a lower tier than Jounin who had tiers ranging from **7-C** to **7-B**. In the same field, a tier of **7-A** was greater than a tier of **7-B**.

There were 3 sub-tiers in each tier ranging from letters **C** to **A** and in order to gain a certain tier level, one needed to have a high enough level and the corresponding stats for that tier. Generally speaking, a shinobi at Minato's level would on average have around the same level of power and would have a tier of **7-A+**. For me, however, even if I power leveled up to his level, if my stats were not up to a certain standard, I wouldn't gain the tier associated with that level. Similarly, if I had the average stats of someone at a **7-A** tier, but my level wasn't high enough to match that, I wouldn't gain the tier bonus associated with that tier.

Why was tier even important?

The reason was simple and a little complex.

The general gist of it was that if an individual was a tier above another person (I.e. they were **7-C** while their opponent was **8-A** or lower) then there was some kind of huge damage bonus applied to their attacks against their opponent, and this bonus stacked. In other words, someone like my teacher who was a high-level Jonin shinobi would deal much more damage to an average Chunin who would be in a lower tier than her. Even though tier bonus damage stacked, it didn't account for hax abilities or anything. Just basic energy, physical, or spiritual attacks. Furthermore, a lower tier individual ( **8-A** ) facing a higher tier individual ( **7-A** ) would do much less damage to them because they were at a lower tier. As a matter of fact, I wasn't even sure they would be able to do any damage to them unless of course certain techniques were used.

Someone at a higher tier than you didn't just have a higher level or better stats. The visible attributes could only tell so much about an individual but it didn't include innate capabilities and more importantly, hidden attributes. Furthermore, it seemed as if those at a higher tier were almost at a different life level. It was kind of like how a child would never be able to beat an adult in a straight up fight. if the child was given a gun then he might be able to win, but even then it wasn't a guarantee. Additionally, an individual at a higher sub-tier ( **7-A vs. 7-B** ) would also have a greater damage multiplier than those in a lower sub-tier and this bonus increased as the tiers became larger again, not including hax skills like reality manipulation, though that was just my speculation.

All of this roughly translated to

 _"If I fought Minato to the death right now…he could kill me with a finger."_

Not only would he cause more damage to me, but his stats were also much greater than mine and so even with the normal damage calculation (without Tier bonuses) he could one shot me. Furthermore, this tier bonus applied in reverse and by that, I meant that while Minato would cause more damage to me, I would do less damage to him.

However, there were some exceptions or rules for almost everything. If Minato gave me a glancing blow, I wouldn't suffer much damage for example. This was also one of the reasons why the damage I did to others varied in value even though my stats were basically static. It was just a difference in where I hit and how hard I hit. Furthermore, if he only cut off my hand or something, then I wouldn't die even though his pure physical damage alone would be enough to kill me. There were many hidden variables to account for when calculating damage output such as you Durability and the opponent's Attack Potency. Another example would be how damage taken to the head usually dealt more damage than say a hit to the stomach.

Suddenly-

 **Ping!**

* * *

 **Congratulations! [Natural Water Affinity] has leveled up by 1!**

 **Congratulations! [Natural Water Affinity] has reached level 100 MAX!**

 **Congratulations! [Chakra Control (CC)] has increased to 97%!**

* * *

 _"Hmm…neat."_ I thought.

Along with the completion of my rumination, I thought for a moment on what else I could accomplish while I was here. For starters, I needed a powerful attack since, while my stats weren't anything to write home about, I did have a lot of chakra at my disposal. If I fought someone stronger than me and didn't really have the luxury of running away, I could blast him with something powerful and hopefully take care of him/her, so I needed something that would use my abundant chakra all at once in a powerful burst. Sure it wasn't the most optimal attack solution, but it would be quite powerful and it could be used in tight situations. I thought for a moment on what type of technique I wanted to create…

 _"What about something explosive…?"_

Along those thoughts, I gathered my chakra to the palms of my hands and converted it into lightning attributed energy before condensing it. Slowly, I separated the palms of my hands while a ball of condensed lightning formed in between, however, I didn't stop there. I gathered as much chakra from my chakra center as I could, converted it into electricity, and continuously added and condensed it to the ball of lightning in my hand. It was only because of my immense chakra control and perfect control over my lightning attribute that I was able to condense this amount of concentrated energy into a single point. As the ball of condensed lightning became as large as a human head, stray arcs of electricity discharging from the sphere.

"This will do." I said and opened my eyes before launching the orb of condensed energy into the distance. I watched in interest as the ball of condensed electricity flew away towards a distant hill…

And obliterated it.

In an immense explosion of lightning energy, the ball of lightning expanded enormously as soon as it impacted the large hill. I could feel the shockwaves from even a kilometer away as a light breeze and subconsciously closed my eyes a bit, before the wind quickly died down.

 **Congratulations, you have created a new skill! What would you like to name it?**

"I'm not really good at naming…" I thought before shrugging. "Lightning Bomb."

 **Ping!**

 **Congratulations, you have created a new skill, 'Lightning Bomb'**

* * *

 **Lightning Release: Lightning Bomb (Active) Lvl MAX**

 **Lightning Bomb is a skill made by condensing the user's chakra into a packed ball of electricity that expands when released from the user.**

 **Range: 1% per unit of Chakra used in meters (If you use 1000 units of chakra for the skill, it will have a range of 10 meters)**

 **Damage: Every unit of CP packed into the skill (I.e. if the user used 1000 units of CP into the skill, it will do 1000HP worth of damage not including bonuses.)**

 **Cost: Varies based on the amount of chakra used for the skill**

* * *

 _"This is a useful technique…kind of hit or miss though."_ I thought as I read through the description. This was a powerful and useful skill and as my level and stats increased, it would also grow along with me. The downside was that it took a while to charge and any competent shinobi would be able to kill me before I could adequately gather enough chakra for the technique to be useful. Plus, it was an extremely chakra intensive technique in order for it to be effective. If I put all my eggs into that basket and missed, I would be screwed.

However-

"It will do for now." I said.

Now then, there was still one last thing I wanted to create.

Intent.

The feeling of the Third Hokage's killing intent had left a profound impression on me and it was something I wanted to replicate. Utilizing that sort of intent on an enemy would be quite impactful in a battlefield as a form of psychological warfare and if my enemies were distracted for a moment, I could easily capitalize on that for a decisive kill.

Intent of any kind was born from the mind and actualized in the spirit.

What this meant was that if an individual wanted someone else to feel their _intent_ , they would need to manifest it in the world through the use of their **Yin** chakra half. From all the research Kotoe had given me on chakra, I knew how chakra was composed on **Yin** and **Yang** and that this union birthed the five primary elements of chakra that was seen in people: Wind, Water, Earth, Fire, and Lightning.

But that wasn't what was important.

No, what was important was that like the five primary chakra elements, **Yin** and **Yang** could actually be used to create techniques. The _Hiden_ , or secret techniques, of Konoha's Nara clan **Shadow Imitation Technique** and Akimichi clan **Multi-Size Technique** , utilized **Yin** and **Yang** release respectively and were not tied into any of the five elements.

 **Yin Release** was based on the spiritual energy that governed imagination and was created by altering the ratio of spiritual and physical energy in favor of the former.

 **Yang Release** was based on the physical energy that governed vitality and was created by altering the ratio of spiritual and physical energy in favor of the latter.

For now, I was focused on the first one.

From what I read, in order to actualize intent with **Yin release** , you needed to be at least moderately familiar with it since _intent_ wasn't a difficult technique to develop. Thankfully, my **Illusion Mastery** was based on genjutsu which fell under the broad category of **Yin Release** , so I had a good amount of familiarity with it. The only reason I assumed I hadn't gotten a **Yin Affinity** or something like that was probably due to the fact that I hadn't _explicitly_ employed it in my genjutsu. It was basically like how you wouldn't expect to gain **Yin** or **Yang release** just by employing any random chakra based technique despite chakra being composed of **Yin** and **Yang**.

With that, I calmed my thoughts and focused my mind in my chakra center. Differentiating between the **Yin** portion of my chakra wasn't too difficult and getting a feel for it was actually easier than I thought. I was quite good at genjutsu after all, so I wasn't too surprised.

 **Ping!**

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked Yin Affinity!**

* * *

 **Yin Affinity (Passive) Lvl 1 [00.00%]**

 **Yin Release is one of the two nature transformations that exist outside of the elemental circle and is based on the spiritual energy that governs imagination. Yin Affinity increases the effectiveness of your mental based techniques such as illusions and other forms of mental attacks.**

 **Passively Increase Yin Release effects 0.125%**

 **Reduce cost of Yin release Ninjutsu by 0.25%**

* * *

I looked at the information displayed in front of me in thought. A prevalent observation I had immediately made was the fact that as opposed to the bonuses I got from my Natural Affinities, the ones I had obtained from my plain **Yin Affinity** were half what I would usually obtain. This meant that having a natural affinity in those elements simply made me better and more effective at using them overall, however other individuals could also theoretically level up their normal affinities (the ones they didn't have naturally) to "level 100" as well.

Ohh well, It didn't really affect what I had to do.

After obtaining my affinity, I concentrated my mind. Utilizing **Hypercous** , I rapidly understood and utilized my _intent_ in conjunction with my **Yin Release**. With but a thought, I was able to feel a pull on the Yin aspect of my chakra as I pushed forward with my intent generating a formless wave of powerful energy that I could distinctly feel.

 **Ping!**

 **Congratulations, you have created a new skill! What would you like to name it?**

 _"Yin Release: Spiritual Pressure."_

 **Ping!**

 **Congratulations! You have learned [Yin Release: Spiritual Pressure]!**

* * *

 **Yin Release: Spiritual Pressure (Active/Passive) Lvl 1 [00.00%]**

 **Yin Release: Spiritual Pressure subjects the opponent to an energy-based mental pressure that can induce certain negative mental effects such as fear. The effects are greater the more energy (in your case CP) you contain compared to your opponent.**

 **Cost: 100 CP per sec**

 **Duration: 1** **minute**.

* * *

I nodded in appreciation and turned off my new skill before standing up.

I had finished doing what I had come here to do.

More importantly, I now had a lot of skills, so I quickly opened my **'Menu'**

 **[Status]**

 **[Skills]**

 **[Attributes]**

 **[Inventory]**

 **[Display Settings]**

And clicked on **Skills**.

As I scrolled through them, I couldn't help but think about how disorganized it was. I would have to fix that later, maybe by butting my elemental skills as sub-skills under their affinity and arranging this entire mess by alphabetical order. I went to Display Settings and adjusted a few parameters on my info screen before a message popped up.

 **Would you like to save these settings?**

 **Y/N**

"Of course…" So I clicked **Y** and instantly, my skill list became more organized and appealing to look at.

Now with that out of the way.

"It's about time I leave… **ID: Escape."**

I thought to myself as I snapped my fingers causing the sky to crack before breaking into pieces. Unfortunately, I had not accounted for the fact that my location in the ID had changed and that I had exited at the corresponding location in the real world, so here I was in the middle of the village with people looking at me awkwardly from my sudden appearance.

Luckily, this was a shinobi village and people disappeared and appeared all the time so they soon ignored my presence and went on with their lives.

And so, I went on with mine.

* * *

3rd Person POV

* * *

Shiranami looked up to the night sky before sighing and turning around. There before him were 4 other individuals communicating among themselves quietly.

"Magaki Group." He stated, gathering their attention. "Konoha's presence has made things slightly problematic, but this could also be considered a chance for me."

One of the individuals, a man named Akaboshi, stepped forward and asked, "Then, in the meantime, what will you have us do?" His question was mirrored with murmurs from the other 3 individuals who were curious as well.

"Nothing at all." Shiranami replied. "Just do whatever it is you do in your simple lives, but in about a week, we will begin." Saying so he stood up from the grass and walked back towards his building, yet a disturbing smile made its way on his face.

"This rotten world…" he began to think, his grin growing wider. "…I'll make it crumble."

* * *

Plot-wise we have some introduction to other parts of his system which will be eventually revealed in time and how it affects him if it does at all. Till next time.


	12. Chapter 12

Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Jutsu'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Jutsu'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Author's Note: I feel like I have to explain my decision to not have Yoru use his stats points up until now. The reason is that his stat points are his lifeline. If Yoru is confronted with an enemy who is much** _ **much**_ **faster than he is and he already used up his stat points, he'd probably die. If he has his stat points as a backup, however, he can invest as much as necessary into the required stat in order to save himself or give him a fighting chance. Using up all his stat points at once isn't the smartest thing and he avoids doing so on the off chance that he needs to invest in a specific stat(s) in a dire moment. That's why he saves up 100s of his stat points. Needed to get that cleared before someone else said anything more about it.**

 **Also, Tier for stats is based on his passively modified stats. If not, Yoru would be incredibly low tiered.**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

"It's been quiet for a while, anything on your end?" My teacher asked me as I appeared in front of her.

I shook my head in the negative, "Nothing has happened on my end either."

My teacher nodded her head before saying, "Alright, just make sure you keep your eyes peeled, I have a feeling that things won't stay quiet for long."

I nodded my head in agreement. It had been a little over a week since we had begun this mission and while there had been a few skirmishes here and there with rogue groups and bandits, there hadn't been any attacks from any of the Five Great Villages as of yet.

" _But like everything, it'll only be a matter of time…"_

This wasn't even me jinxing it as I knew that Kirigakure wouldn't take their earlier loss sitting down. We had beaten their previous Anbu scouts and so it was only a matter of time before they retaliated. I had a feeling that they were just waiting for something, the question was what?

"Comrades from the Leaf!" A voice yelled out causing me and my teacher to look towards the speaker. The individual donned the Tsuchigumo headband and stopped in front of us before giving us a short bow, "Please take a break, my team is ready to take watch."

I looked up into the sky, noting that it was a little past afternoon, before hearing my teacher say, "We haven't sensed anything out of the ordinary so far, but be on your guard."

"Of course ma'am!" the man said and body flickered from view.

With a nod in my direction, Dove disappeared from view and I followed after her.

* * *

"Healing most of their injured shinobi really made things much easier on us." Kotoe said as she placed her mask on the couch of our residence and took off her flak jacket.

I followed suit with a nod, "…they seem to hold less animosity towards us as well."

She smiled and patted my head, "Well it's all thanks to you." She then stopped and looked out the window before saying, "It's getting late and the others should be back soon…I'll head out to get us something to eat. You want anything specific?"

I thought for a moment before replying, "Takoyaki."

There was a smirk on her face as she waved me goodbye, "Alright then kiddo, I'll be back in a sec."

And with that, she disappeared from view leaving me alone on the couch. I stretched out my limbs a little before opening my status menu and looking through it. I hummed in thought for a moment as I contemplated something before thinking to myself _, "Make my_ _ **Hidden Attributes**_ _visible along with my_ _ **Visible Attributes**_ _when I open my_ _ **Status**_ _."_

 **Would you like these settings saved?**

 **Y/N**

I mentally clicked **Y** and instantly, my status changed to reflect my decision.

* * *

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Race: Human?**

 **Level: Lvl 58 Next Level: 146,775/165,400**

 **HP: 32333/32333 Regen: (646.6 per min)**

 **CP: 79101/79101 Regen: (2135.7 per min)**

 **CC: 97%**

 **STR: 252.0**

 **VIT: 264.6**

 **DEX: 216.3**

 **INT: 331.8**

 **WIS: 326.4**

 **ENGY: 592.1**

 **Points: 384**

 **Ryo: 875,348**

 **Hidden Attributes**

 **T** **: 7-C**

 **P. DMG:**

 **STR x DEX^0.4**

 **E. DMG:**

 **% ENGY**

 **S. DMG:**

 **% INT**

 **AP:**

 **Highest damage output: 144000**

 **SPD:**

 **Traveling: Supersonic**

 **Reaction: High Hypersonic**

 **LS:**

 **850,000 kg**

 **SS:**

 **Damage: 5720**

 **DUR:**

 **Negate 2035 DMG**

 **Negate damage equal to (VIT * LVL(^0.352))**

 **Iron Body:**

 **\- Increase DUR by 25%**

 **Chakra Reinforcement;**

 **\- Increase DUR by 25%**

 **Dense Muscle**

 **\- Negate damage equal to STR (252)**

 **\- (Note: Added onto base DUR)**

* * *

I had slightly improved my stats in the past week, but it wasn't really anything noteworthy. Other than that, since I now knew more about my functions and that I could freely control and manipulate the display, I decided that seeing my hidden stats would give me a better gauge of my strength and skill.

With that all set, I laid down on the couch and got comfortable as I went into my "meditative" position and closed my eyes. I synchronized the rate of my breathing with my heart beat and relaxed on the couch for a moment.

As I sunk deeper into my subconscious, I suddenly felt something jump onto my chest. I peeled opened my eyes and looked at my chest to see a red toad standing there quietly. It seemed to be wearing an obi but I might have just been misidentifying it.

"..."

"..."

We stared at each other for a while before I ignored it as my **Empathy** picked up no malice from the creature. I then turned my gaze up toward the ceiling wondering when Kotoe and the rest would be back.

" _I want some takoyaki…"_

"Oi, don't ignore me."

I blinked and turned back towards the toad who had spoken. "…If you had said something earlier, I wouldn't have."

The toad put on a thoughtful expression, "Fair enough." It then began to extend upwards from the waist allowing me to realize that it hadn't been wearing an obi or anything, but that those bands around it stomach had been like a cap to a bottle or something. I didn't think much further as the toad's abdomen revealed a scroll in its extended midsection. The toad unfurled the scroll, allowing me to see what was written within.

I hummed for a moment as I read through it and it could basically be summed up as:

* * *

 _Hey kid, the guy you wanted me to tail has been moving suspiciously the last few days according to my toads, so I would keep an eye on him. On another note, my sources have gathered intel on some movement from the Hidden Mist so be on your guard._

 _Jiraiya_

* * *

" _Hmm…I'll let the others know."_ I thought before looking at the rest of the information on the scroll and realizing that the remaining space on the scroll seemed to contain a reverse summoning formula. " _Odd…"_ I thought before inwardly shaking my head and looking at the toad, "Thank you for that."

The toad nodded its head before rolling the scroll back into itself and retracting itself down to its previous size.

I looked to it in curiosity, "I know about summons, but I have never heard of something like you."

The amphibian crossed its arms before floating, "I'm a rare breed of toad called as a _messenger toad_. I have similar anatomy to _scroll toads_ but the space on my body's scroll is much smaller and so I am usually used to deliver short messages, unlike _scroll toads_ who usually deliver highly confidential documents."

I nodded my head at the information, "…Neat."

The _messenger toad_ smiled with its arms crossed as it continued to remain afloat and looked at me.

I raised a brow, "What's wrong? Is there anything else."

It paused at that before sighing, "Yeah, I'm going to need you to open wide."

"…what?"

The toad sighed once more, "Look I would rather not do this but I have orders. Don't worry, I'm small enough that it won't be a hassle."

I had an odd premonition, but I opened my mouth regardless. The toad immediately flew into my mouth before I could react and slithered down my throat before disappearing.

I blinked once, then twice, before my eye twitched and I sighed. " _Whatever…"_ I thought before taking out a scroll, jotting down the information I had gotten from Jiraiya, and then tossing it in my inventory. I would just give the other guys this instead of explaining it to them.

Next, I made a shadow clone and had it transform into a bug before having it crawl away. Gyoja was a Fuuinjutsu Master and I already knew there had to be some seals around his residence since my **Energy Resonance** couldn't penetrate it, something I had found out earlier this week. That being said, I had no doubt that there were traps around this village meant for catching trespassers. I would simply have my clone stay within a 2700 meter radius of Shiranami's living area without getting too close.

I already knew he lived in the upper-class residential area and with my **Eidetic Memory** , I had easily memorized his chakra signature, so all my clone had to do was stay the maximum possible distance away while scouting for his chakra signature. This was the most I could do on my own, but at least I'd be able to monitor his movements albeit in a limited range.

With that, I laid back down on the couch in thought and wondered what else I could do for now before I decided to just play around with my skills a little bit.

I sat up straight on the couch and clapped my hands together before concentrating my chakra and channeling its lightning nature into a compressed ball between my palms. I only put in a little bit so that I wouldn't blow up the place and opened my palms to witness a small blue ball of compressed electrical energy.

Small sparks flew from the ball and it bobbed up and down slightly as it floated on my palm. I poked the ball with my index finger and quickly felt a sharp sting from it causing me to retract my finger.

" _No mass though…makes sense since it's just energy."_ I thought as I lightly lobbed the ball of lightning up and down and played around with it

" _Hmm, what else to do…"_ I thought for a moment before coming up with something.

I willed the ball of lightning to dissipate and took out an empty scroll from my inventory along with a brush and some ink. I laid the materials down on the table and closed my eyes before opening them once more, my **Hyperfocus** activated. I took my brush and with alien levels of fluidity, began inscribing on the empty scroll.

Each stroke was perfectly aligned with my intentions, each curve and dash coming together to create an intricate design.

While my body seemed to move on its own, so too did my mind wander off elsewhere. **Hyperfocus** was essentially using **Meditation** in conjunction with a non-combatant skill, but it could also be used to hone my focus to such an intense degree, I seemingly 'lost' focus, hence ' **Hyperfocus** '.

My mind replayed the images I had seen while I had been in my meditative position a week prior.

The smoke….

The fire…

The destruction…

My hands danced on the paper as the world around me seemed to fade out of existence, leaving only the paper and brush in front of me.

Nine-tails…

And a lot of death…

Eventually, even the concept of time seemed to disappear from my conscious mind as I single-mindedly focused on my calligraphy. I didn't know how long I was in my trancelike state, but eventually…

Ping!

 **Congratulations! [Basic Calligraphy] has leveled up by 1!**

My senses returned back to my body in full and my gaze lost its intense focus as I regained my bearings.

"You mind if I take a look?" A voice called out to me, causing me to blink.

" _While in that state, I'm unaware of my surroundings…_ " I thought before looking up to Kazemona and nodding my head.

She picked up the scroll while commenting, "You were so focused that I didn't want to disturb you, but if I was an enemy, you would be dead."

"…then I'm glad you're not."

She smiled and turned her gaze back towards the scroll before stating, "You have…a vivid imagination."

She placed the scroll down, allowing me to see it as I hadn't regained enough of my focus earlier to actually note what I had drawn.

I took in my drawing before commenting, "…I suppose I do."

The image depicted the Ninetails toppling buildings and monuments alike, it's nine tails swishing around. The image almost seemed lifelike in a way, as if it could pop out of the scroll at any moment.

" _I wonder…"_

"That aside." Kazemona began, bringing my attention back towards her, "The others are already here. Where is Kotoe?"

"Getting food." I replied.

The blond nodded her head, "I see, then it would be appropriate to set up the table, don't you agree?"

I slightly inclined my head in reply, "…I suppose."

A small smile donned her lips before she left the area so I created a clone to help me set up the table before looking at my drawing in thought.

" _The Ninetails…"_

I couldn't help but slightly purse my lips, unfortunately, there were a lot of things about those images that I simply didn't know and I couldn't even interact with them without getting pulled away. In the end, the only option I had to get some answers was to level up my **Meditation** to 100.

" _I guess only time will tell…"_

* * *

After Kotoe had come back from her grocery run and had gotten my much-beloved octopus balls, the rest of the team came over and we were currently enjoying a simple dinner.

"Now that we are all together…" Tsuchiyo started after swallowing his food, "Do any of you have any updates pertaining to the mission?"

"Ohh come on!" Viper proclaimed from his side of the table in exasperation. "Not _everything_ has to be about the mission. If you don't learn how to relax big guy, ladies will find you _boar_ ing…see what I did there?"

Everyone at the table: "…..."

"Baipa…do yourself a favor and stop talking."

"…and you wonder why women would rather talk to a 7-year old than you."

Kotoe and Kazemona stated respectively causing a dark cloud to form over his head as he wallowed in self-depression.

Tsuchiyo smiled lightly, "Well if none of you have anything-"

"…Here." I said, tossing him a scroll, "Lord Jiraiya sends his regards."

Boar deftly caught it with a hand and unfurled it before scanning his eyes along the paper, "This…"

"What is it?" My teacher asked, causing the man to place the scroll down on the table so that the rest could see it.

They huddled around him to look at the information while I sat in my seat, enjoying my takoyaki. " _It's so good…"_

"Hey Yoru?"

"Hmm?" I replied, my cheeks slightly bulging from the amount of food in my mouth.

Kotoe looked at me ill-humoredly before replying, "The kid that you asked Jiraiya to keep an eye on…"

I gulped down my food before replying, "Shiranami, the one who hates us."

"Your emotion sensing thing right?" Tsuchiyo asked me, so I nodded in reply.

"People are always going to hate us, even if we aren't directly involved in their suffering." Kazemona began as she looked towards me. "That can't be the only reason you decided to have an eye on him."

I inclined my head in affirmation, "…If it was a normal member of the village, I wouldn't have bothered, but he is a high ranking member who seems to loathe us. I'd rather not have him messing around with our mission…is the main reason."

The blond woman raised a brow, "And the other one?"

"…paranoia. There is something off about him."

She looked at me for a moment "I'll take your word for it then." She said before returning to look back at the scroll.

Yurai turned his gaze from the scroll before looking outside "I get the feeling that we won't be able to sleep tonight."

I froze mid-step from stuffing my mouth with more takoyaki and turned to Kotoe, her expression turning serious as well. "You just had to say that…"

The white-haired man chuckled uneasily, "I couldn't have jinxed it _that_ badly?"

"…My sensing capabilities are being obscured…it feels just like the time we got caught in the Kirigakure **Hiding in Mist technique**." I explained.

"I mean it could be any-"

"And it's spreading throughout the village…I can't detect ally or foe." Kotoe stated, giving a side glance towards Turtle.

He gave a few more hollow chucked before Tsuchiyo stated with a sigh, "So we have enemy fog that's not only impeding our visibility but preventing you from utilizing your sensory capabilities?"

At Kotoe and my nod, he stood up, "Alright, Monkey, Tiger and I will reinforce the wall's defense along with the Tsuchigumo-nin."

Saying that, he slipped on his Anbu gear before continuing, "What will the rest of you do?"

Wolf was the first to reply as she slipped on her mask, "I'll take care of the most vulnerable defense positions. Viper, Turtle, you'll come with me."

"Yoru and I will head over to the center of town and reinforce their defenses there." Was my teacher's reply as she patted my head.

Boar inclined his head before signaling to his partners who replied in kind. With a subtle movement, they vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"Come you two, we have a job to do." Wolf said before vanishing, followed by Turtle and a slightly depressed Viper.

Kotoe slipped on her mask before motioning to me, "Let's move Yoru."

I nodded and was about to move, however, my body froze. An assault of emotions bombarded me causing me to falter for a moment before I shook it off.

"What is it?" Kotoe asked.

I looked towards the direction of my clone. "The clone I had left to spy on Shiranami chakra signature popped…"

"And?"

I furrowed my brows, "It transferred back a lot of negative emotions…I was a little caught off guard."

Kotoe looked at me seriously, "Empathy?"

I gave a nod in response.

She furrowed her brows before shaking her head, "Then let's quickly get a move on." Saying so, she vanished in a burst of speed and I quickly followed behind her.

* * *

 _A few minutes prior, 3rd person POV_

* * *

"Shiranami, y-you really…" Hato said, struggling to stand, however, his body felt as if it had been weighed down with tons of lead, making it difficult for him to moves. Next to him, the clan leader was on his knees sweat dripping from his brow as his body was surrounded by a rectangular prism-shaped purple barrier, his chakra being constantly siphoned away.

On the ground were an unconscious Tonbee and a more than frightened Hotaru as she looked at the 4 individuals that were keeping the village leader in the purple barrier.

Gyoja looked up from his kneeling position and gave Shiranami a hard look. "Boy, what is the meaning of this? All my chakra detection traps have gone off across the village just as you finished your treacherous act, I don't find this a coincidence. What exactly have you wrought to this village?!" He squeezed out but grunted soon after as more of his stamina was sucked from his body.

Shiranami gave the clan leader a long look before he cracked a barely noticeable smile, "I'm simply doing what you wanted to do all along."

Both Hato and Gyoja froze at that response as they understood what it entailed. The clan leader looked at Shiranami before sighing and shaking his head, however even that movement proved somewhat strenuous, "I don't know how you plan to accomplish that foolish goal, but I already know that if you go through with it, you'll just bring more tribulations upon our already weakened village. That's not even factoring in whether the plan you made will even work."

"Was that what you thought when you first created **Fury**?" Shiranami asked with a dull smile, but didn't even let Gyoja reply before continuing, "Did you actually care about the safety of the village when you began to prance around with your fancy new weapon of mass destruction? Why do you think we are even in this mess to begin with? Is it not because you grew blinded by rage at the loss of Hotaru's mother, your daughter, that you sought revenge and created this technique? You even named it ' **Fury** ' but what do you have to show for it? Our enemies are still alive and kicking, and our small village is rapidly declining, and who do we have to thank for it? Who?"

Every question seemed to almost physically rip a hole in Gyoja's heart as his face grew more pale with each one…though that might have just been from his chakra being drained.

"Shiranami stop this instant!" Hato yelled towards his son and tried to move, however, his body was completely unresponsive.

"Unless you have as much talent in Fuuinjutsu as me or the old man over there, you won't be able to undo my seal." Shiranami stated before his smile turned crooked. "but on the subject of you father…" He began. "…Ever since my mother died, you've just never been the same. Every day since I was 14, you've pushed me to be better, to be smarter, to be wiser, to be stronger, to be faster, to be more ruthless, to be…" Shiranami paused and shook his head with a chuckle, "And when I didn't live up to your expectations…" he paused and chucked to himself once more. "You tortured me for 4 years to be better than _you_ because _you_ were too weak to save _your_ wife and instead of owning up to _your_ weaknesses you projected _your_ self hatred onto _me_."

Hato's expression changed multiple times before he closed his blurry eyes and clenched his teeth. "Shiranami…I know what I did to you was wrong, but you are still-"

"Shut up." Shiranami said with a tone that froze the words from coming out of Hato's mouth. "Your paltry excuses are meaningless at this point, the only thing that matters now is…" Saying that he looked towards Hotaru and smiled while walking towards her.

"N-no!" the girl said frightened as she backed up and found herself against the wall. Her eyes widened as Shiranami hand inched closer to her body, however, the worst result she had in mind never came.

Hotaru felt a hand pat her head and gingerly opened her eyes to see Shiranami seemingly genuinely smiling at her.

"It's not fair is it?" Shiranami asked the girl with a sad smile, "We both lost our mothers, and there isn't a thing we can do. Isn't that just unfair?"

The blonde, now somewhat less frightened, looked down before nodding slowly.

"Don't you want revenge?"

Hotaru's body stilled and she slowly turned her head towards her grandfather, whose body was almost as white as sheet at this point.

It seemed like getting your chakra drained wasn't good for your health.

"H-Hotaru." Gyoja struggled to say but faltered as his body lacked the strength to support himself.

"Don't mind him, look at me." Shiranami said, forcing her gaze towards him. "Don't you want to see the bad men who took away your mom _disappear_."

Now while Hotaru was young, she wasn't stupid. Naive she may be, an idiot she was not, so she understood that Shiranami had other intentions in mind, but the thought of her mom and the people who took her away…the little blond haired girl found her head incline in a nearly imperceptible nod.

Shiranami grinned widely, "Good because you're going to be the one to carry out the deed." As Hotaru's eyes widened at that statement, Shiranami rapidly moved his finger in the air. With his finger as the brush and the space in front of him as a canvas, he drew the kanji symbols for "sleep" (眠る) in the air and immediately, the kanji appeared on Hotaru's forehead

The entire process had occurred in such a minuscule time frame, that Hotaru hadn't even been able to react as the floating kanji symbols had been drawn. Before she could even comprehend it, her eyes began to dull and in but a moment, her body collapsed onto Shiranami.

Both Hato and Gyoja looked on in surprise because while Hotaru had been unable to even notice what had been going on before she went unconscious, as more powerful and seasoned shinobi, Gyoja and Hato had managed to see what Shiranami had done in that little time frame.

"What…?"

"Are you surprised?" Shiranami stated looking at Gyoja who was much more surprised about the technique than Hato had been. "I call it the **Character Bind Technique** and it allows me to do many things with the symbols I write in the air."

However, there had been a reason that Gyoja had been more surprised what was evident as he muttered, "You…"

Shiranami smiled, "Don't look so frightened old man, I'm not good enough at Fuuinjutsu to materialize my chakra as seals without a solid surface. This is just a technique I developed to somewhat circumvent that, but it's not as fast nor efficient and not nearly as effective. If I tried using it on you for example, you could probably break it in a fraction of a second which, while good in battle, isn't effective for long term effects. On those weaker than me however…" he stated, looking impassively at Hotaru who was unconscious.

Taking all that information in, Gyoja decided to worry about it for later and as the most important question, "What do you plan to do?"

Gyoja widened his eyes, however, when instead of answering, Shiranami pulled down the top of Hotaru's kimono, showcasing her back. Engraved upon the center of her back was what seemed to be a large grey dot which caused unsightly veins to protrude from that spot across her back.

Shiranami looked at it blandly, "Tell me, old man, what exactly were you planning to do by engraving **Fury** upon your own granddaughter's back?"

The clan leader could not even find the energy to respond as his body flopped to the floor in weakness and resignation. Hato too could only look on in powerlessness at the proceedings.

"I suppose it doesn't really matter at this point." Shiranami stated before covering Hotaru up and laying her on the ground. He walked towards his father and brutally kicked him in the throat, causing him to cough intensely. "I probably shouldn't have done that considering I need some answers from you, however as you've always told me…" the dark haired boy said as he kneeled to his father's downed form before concluding, " 'suck it up or you'll get it worse'."

Saying so, he grabbed his father's hair and yanked it so that he was facing up towards him, "Now then, the **Tsuchigumo Style: Forbidden Life Technique Release: Creation of Heaven and Earth** , tell me, where is it?"

"What do you…?"

"Do I have to explain my entire fucking plan to you?" Shiranami asked rhetorically in irritation. "I need the technique and you will give it to me this instant or your life is forfeit."

It was at this moment that Shiranami's expression changed. "Tsk." Saying so, he slammed Hato's head to the ground and turned towards Gyoja, however unbeknownst to every occupant in the room, there had been a brief smirk on his lips, "The Leaf Nin that you asked me to spy on with the Dragon Mural are about to move. If I don't get answers in the next 10 seconds, one of you two will die."

Hato remained on the floor immobilized while Gyoja remained trapped in the purple barrier. He looked towards his granddaughter, torn on what to do. If he gave Shiranami what he wanted, his granddaughter would almost undoubtedly come to harm, but if not then his life or that of Hato would be forfeit.

"Will you keep her safe?" Gyoja asked in a plea.

Shiranami looked at him impassively, "How the hell would I know? You're the one who made the technique. You should know better than anyone here."

Gyoja's eyes widened as he seemed to get a grasp of what Shiranami was planning, but he grit his teeth and looked at the boy straight in his eye, "Fine…I'll tell you."

* * *

 _Present time, Yoru POV_

* * *

Kotoe and I rapidly traversed the village and in but a few moments, we arrived at the at the village leader's compound.

"What do you feel?" Kotoe asked me as she cautiously looked ahead.

I took a breath and closed my eyes before expanding my **Empathy**. I was immediately bombarded with negative emotions, but as I was prepared, I was able to deal It it easily. "…A lot of pain, both physical and emotional, sorrow, resignation… just a lot of negativity."

Kotoe nodded her head in understanding, "Then let's move-"

I held out my hand and stopped her from moving forward, "…Hold on, something isn't quite right."

She paused her movement before looking at me, "Enemy ambush?"

"Not sure…" I stated before closing my eyes and focusing on my **Empathy**. While the fog had spread across the village, it hadn't spread inside the buildings themselves (unless they had their windows open) so logically I should have been able to sense inside the buildings even if I couldn't sense around me. Unfortunately, there was a seal that was blocking my Energy Resonance from reaching the village leader's so I was unable to do so.

Luckily, there was nothing was blocking out my ability to sense emotions, so I could only tell how many people there were based on the different groups of emotions being displayed. I couldn't tell who specifically was displaying which emotion, unlike what I could do with my **Energy Resonance**.

However, since I could still tell how many people were in a certain area just based on my emotion sensing abilities, I knew that something was wrong in this place the moment I had expanded my **Empathy** range.

"…From my observations this past week, I know that the clan leader only ever has a maximum of 5 individuals in his house at any time: Him, Tonbee, Hato, Shiranami, and Hotaru." Saying so, I turned towards Kotoe before finishing my explanation, "However right now, I sense 7 different sets of emotions, meaning 7 individuals 4 of which are hostile. It would be best to exercise caution."

Though I couldn't see her expression behind her dove mask, I could feel her seriousness. "Alright then, let's send a decoy."

Nodding my head, I formed a reinforced shadow clone and had it enter the house through the front door, meanwhile, Kotoe hopped up to the roof of the house and waited for my signal.

* * *

 _3rd person POV, Yoru Shadow Clone_

* * *

" _Alright, time to act like good faithful cannon fodder."_ the shadow clone thought as he entered the building. Immediately along the corridor, he saw the still forms of the village leader, Hato, and Tonbee, however Shiranami and Hotaru were nowhere in sight. Besides that, now that he was actually inside the building, the clone could sense the chakra signatures of 4 individuals that were hiding in the shadows, but decided to feign ignorance for now.

The worst that could happen would be getting dispelled.

With that line of thought, Yoru Clone walked up towards Gyoja downed formed and poked his body with his finger. "I know you are alive." " _Even if someone is asleep, they still emanate emotions and as far as I'm concerned, dead people don't have chakra."_

The village leader's body began to move before he shakily raised his head, "R-run…"

Yoru Clone raised his brow but did not react as the 4 individuals he sensed earlier moved and surrounded him in a square formation.

" **Infinite Embrace**!" One of them yelled as they all slammed their palms on the ground. A purple barrier sprung up around Yoru and immediately an immense pressured weighed down on him.

" _My chakra is being drained…this is…"_

"Shiranami said that there would be some unwanted guests coming our way, but who would have thought that it would be just a child." Akaboshi stated as he looked at Yoru Clone's petit form.

"Oi oi, Wait you're telling me that this pipsqueak is a bonafide shinobi from the Leaf?" One of the other 4 individuals asked, a man named Chushin asked. He didn't wait for a reply before he continued, looking at Yoru Clone in deprecation, "Not so tough now huh little turd? Being from the 5 "Great" Nations apparently means shit if even children can join their ranks."

Yoru just looked at him as if he was an idiot. " _Then again, he looks like one."_ Yoru thought while looking at the man's thin, gaunt face and body, receding hairline, unkempt, near-shoulder-length hair, and distinctive cleft chin.

Perhaps somehow sensing the taunt in Yoru Clone's gaze behind his mask, Chushin grew a tick mark, "Listen here you little shit, I will-"

A laugh brought him out of his tirade.

"Tell me what's so funny Benten?!" Chushin asked harshly towards the other member of the group, a very androgynous looking man with brown eyes and black medium hair. His appearance was made even more sexually confusing with the pink lipstick he wore.

"You're getting so riled up from a child who can't be more than 8. Seriously you're such a poor excuse for a man." The man spoke, yet his deep voice contrasted so awkwardly with his effeminate appearance that Chushin couldn't help but quip.

"You really sound strange whenever you open your mouth, don't you think Nangō?"

The last member of the group, a large man with long brown spiky hair tied in the back in a ponytail and small black eyes, didn't even reply.

"Always the killjoy…." Chushin muttered.

"Alright enough." Akaboshi, the second in command of the group after Shiranami, stated. He looked down and brought himself eye level towards Yoru Clone, "Tell me, where are the rest of your comrades? I know that you all rarely travel alone."

Yoru Clone continued to remain silent.

"Tsk. Let me make him talk." Chushin stated before he walked up and swiftly kicked the Clone across the face. Yoru Clone's Anbu mask flew off from the impact, making the upper half of his face visible as he still had the face mask on.

Chushin froze, before his face warped in anger, "You piece of shit! You dare to have a more handsome face than me?!" Saying so, he repeatedly stepped on the back of the reinforced clone's head, each impact causing the floor board to crack.

"Stop!" Akaboshi stated, yanking Chushin away. "Nangō, keep him in check."

The burly man nodded and held Chushin in place, causing him to scream out in protest.

"Let go of me! Not only does he diss me, but he also has the balls to be better looking than me!"

"…"

"Trust me, it's not even that hard." Benten stated with a smirk.

Chushin looked at him with a glare, "You have no right to talk you trap!"

"Trap?!" The feminine looking man stated in anger before butting heads with Chushin.

Yoru Clone looked at the group oddly and turned back towards the clan leader as if asking " _are these really the guys you lost to?"_

Gyoja's face was slightly red in shame, so the white-haired Leaf shinobi decided not to bother and instead looked up towards the still fuming balding man before saying, "…weak."

Chushin paused his tantrum, his face growing redder "What was that?!"

"I said you're weak." Yoru Clone clarified. "You're so pathetically weak that I'm surprised you've even made it this far in life. Though I suppose sucking off everyone stronger than you is a good way of staying alive."

"Y-you!" The man stuttered, his face twisting in anger.

"M-me." Yoru replied tauntingly. "Can you not speak? Or has that cock been shoved down your throat for so long that you forgot how?"

The air around the room's occupants stilled at the vulgarity being spewed from the young child's mouth. Chushin was at a loss for words as his mouth kept opening and closing yet no sound came out.

Ignoring him, Yoru Clone looked up towards the still slightly shocked Akaboshi and stated, "Since you so stupidly ousted Shiranami as your gang leader, I'm assuming he planned this entire thing. Tell me, how did you know we were coming here and where is he now?"

Akaboshi snapped out of his dazed state before shaking his head, "You're in no position to order us around kid, but I don't mind telling you a thing or two about how we set up this ambush before hand." Saying so, he gave Gyoja a look and smirked, "In the building our oh so gracious village leader let your group stay in, there is a dragon mural hung up on the living room wall. You've seen it haven't you?"

Yoru Clone thought about the memories his boss had and nodded his head. The boss had felt something odd about it then but hadn't pursued it. It seemed like his instincts had been on point though.

Akaboshi continued, "As it turns out, our gracious village leader didn't actually trust the Leaf as much as he said he had. The dragon mural can act as a spying device through the use of a technique and Shiranami was charged with watching over your group during your stay."

Yoru Clone raised a brow at that statement and looked towards the Village leader, who had a difficult expression on his face. Yoru didn't fault the man, after all, even though this village was small it was still a shinobi village and he could understand keeping an eye on strangers.

However,

"Spying on his allies, taking note of their abilities, watching their every move…" Akaboshi chuckled. "Our village leader's _faith_ in Konoha need not be extrapolated on much further."

Yoru Clone sighed, " _What a troublesome situation…"_ thinking along those lines, he shrugged to himself, " _Good thing I don't have to deal with it_." And with that,

He dispelled.

* * *

 _Present time, Yoru POV_

* * *

My expression changed a few times as I received my clone's memories before I sighed and gave Kotoe a signal.

Immediately she nodded and destroyed the roof of the building directly above where the 4 members had been and in the same moment I charged my hands with lightning natured chakra and fired out a beam of electricity through the wall.

From my clone's memories, I knew precisely where the enemies were located so I was not left surprised when I heard the surprised yells of the Shiranami's group. Without hesitation, I dashed into the building and slammed my foot against Chushin's face after having quickly located him through his chakra signature.

His body was removed from Nango's grasp and sent flying through the wall. Using this moment, I twisted my body in mid-air and slammed my foot into Nangō's temple causing his neck to snap to the side. His head impacted against a nearby wall causing cracks to spread from the point of contact.

"You damn brat!" Akaboshi yelled as he ran towards me, Benten in tow, however before they could make it, I leaped back, just in time for my teacher to land on the area where I had previously been.

Shocked at her sudden appearance, both the men froze for but a moment which was more than enough time for Kotoe to slam her fist into Akaboshi's throat.

The man choked and grabbed his neck in response while stepping backward, and my teacher capitalized on this moment as she stepped forward and threw her poison coated senbon towards the enemy.

Akaboshi was quick to recover as he quickly leaped away and deftly deflected the projectiles with a kunai. Landing on the ground, he placed his hands on the ground before channeling electricity through the floorboards and towards my teacher. With her incredible reflexes, Kotoe managed to throw down 8 chakra infused kunai on the ground around her, causing the lightning to stray off its course and become conducted by the chakra infused metal.

"Dammit! Benten get your ass over here and help me!" The man yelled at his teammate.

"B-But you know that I don't like hitting women!"

"Ohh for fuck's sake!" The man yelled as he took steps back from my approaching teacher. "Then get the fucking kid or something!"

The effeminate man gripped his fists before looking my way, however, I had not been idle during this time. I quickly threw a couple kunai his way, which he easily deflected with his own, however as they were up in the air behind him, they _puffed_ and transformed into shadow clones of me.

The man didn't even get a chance to react before he was bombarded with a combination attack of my clones' **Wild Water Wave** and **Lightning Strike** technique. The force of the attack bombarded him forwards towards me.

" _Wait…"_ I thought, looking behind me and realizing that the Village leader, Hato, and Tonbee were still incapacitated behind me. With the force and reach of this technique, they would no doubt suffer collateral damage, so I raised my hands and controlled my clones' combination technique and formed a sphere of electrified water with Benten still inside.

"Benten! Dammit!" Akaboshi stated, seeing his comrade captured as he was. With a snarl, he dashed forward with a kunai in hand, yet with but a tilt of her head, Kotoe dodged the metal weapon and slammed a palm into his throat once more. Akaboshi gagged and fell back from the pain of the attack allowing Kotoe to move on top of him and slam her fist into his nose, breaking it and causing his head to slam into the floorboard, cracking it.

Using this opportunity, she quickly threw senbon at his form and with his positioning, he was unable to move in time. He grunted from the pain but was unable to move due to the paralytic toxin.

It was at this moment that she suddenly threw needles towards my face, so I tilted my head causing them to impact against a solid object right behind me before a _thud_ sounded out.

"Not bad, but you should have made sure he was either dead or unconscious." My teacher stated as she turned towards me and dusted herself off before pointing at Nango's paralyzed body behind me.

"…I was about to act, but you beat me to it." I said, twirling the kunai in my right hand that had been aimed at Nangō's groin.

I could sense some amusement from her at my response before she turned around and noted the village leader sitting up from the ground, his body still in pain.

"What is going on in here? It's clear to me that those individuals weren't invited to your home so how did they get in and what transpired to leave you in that state? You barely have any chakra left in your system." My teacher asked.

Gyoja coughed twice before he looked at me and sighed, "My student's son, Shiranami, set up and ambush against me while my guard was down. Those 4…" he stated, looking at the bodies of Nangō and Akaboshi, "They trapped me in a barrier that prevented me from using my chakra while simultaneously draining it from me and keeping me paralyzed. They seemed to have been a group specialized in combination techniques."

Kotoe nodded her head at that information before asking the more important question. "Where is Shiranami now? Or better yet, where is he heading? Is there anyone else with him?"

The village leader looked at me again before sighing, "…Shiranami took my granddaughter away and if I had to guess, he is probably heading towards Kirigakure."

Kotoe narrowed her eyes before signaling to me, " _I need a debriefing. Leave a Clone here."_

I nodded and created a couple clones and had them tend to the wounded Village leader and the unconscious Tonbee and Hato before Kotoe asked once again, "I don't suppose you know what route he is using?"

The man shook his head, "I'm not sure, but he should know." He replied, looking at Benten who was still trapped in my bubble of electrified water and whose face was beginning to turn purple.

Kotoe gave me a look and I nodded before releasing my control over my technique.

The bubble burst and the man trapped inside gasped before coughing heavily. He looked at Kotoe and me heatedly and gripped his fists. "Don't expect me to tell you any-"

I slammed my palm into his mouth and clamped it shut. "Be quiet. Don't talk when not asked. If you hesitate to answer us, your comrades will die. If you think of attacking us, your comrades will die. If you lie to us, your comrades will die and trust me, I can tell."

Seeing and feeling the fear in his eyes, I looked to Kotoe who gave me an approving nod.

"I need the direction and destination." Kotoe asked succinctly.

With barely noticeable hesitation, he answered, "N-Northeast towards the ruins of Uzushiogakure. H-he plans to meet up with Kiri-nin there."

As soon as he finished, Kotoe threw her chakra enhanced senbon at his neck causing his body to slump to the ground.

"What an odd turn of events." Kotoe stated before shaking her head. "I suppose your instincts were on point Squirrel, there was something odd about him."

Gyoja's expression shifted, "You knew there was something wrong with Shiranami and you deemed it not important enough to tell me?"

"…I find it amusing how that works both ways." I stated staring at the village leader straight in the eye. In any usual situation, he would probably be able to kill me quite effortlessly, but as of this moment, he was much too weak to do anything. "What exactly was so important about your daughter that Shiranami decided to take her while leaving you and the rest here?"

I turned to look at the still unconscious forms of Tonbee and Hato before continuing, "If he wanted a political hostage then there would be no better individual to capture than you, yet he didn't, even though he definitely could have. How exactly do you explain that?"

The man remained silent and slightly hung his head as he didn't reply while my teacher paid attention to the dialogue between us.

I continued.

"…Would you have believed me?" I asked, causing him to falter. "You apparently didn't trust us enough that you had him spy on our every move in the house you so graciously lent us and look where that got us." I stated causing his expression to become even more difficult.

"Wait, excuse me?" Kotoe asked as she looked between the two of us before focusing her face on Gyoja. "I believe an explanation is warranted."

"…The dragon head in our living room is a spy device. They have been watching our every move and our interactions, so I would be surprised if they have some idea of our abilities."

Kotoe paused and sighed, "I'm going to really need that debriefing." Kotoe stated before glancing at Gyoja sharply and shaking her head. She returned back towards me, "Regardless, I'm going to have to salvage this mess somehow. In the meantime Yoru, I'll have you chase after Shiranami."

I tilted my head, "Then what will you do?"

She gave one last look at the Tsuchigumo clan leader before creating a few clones which body flickered soon after. "I'll let the others know and have them meet up here with me while I get debriefed by your Clone. I trust you will be fine on your own and I know you can escape if things get rough."

I nodded my head before disappearing in a Body Flicker.

* * *

 _3rd person POV_

* * *

"Now then…" Kotoe stated before looking at Gyoja before looking at one of Yoru's shadow clone. "Tell me everything."

* * *

 _Yoru POV_

* * *

I dashed through the trees towards the direction that the effeminate man had told me. I knew he had been telling the truth due to my emotion sensing abilities, so there was no hesitation in my step as I moved forward.

My **Energy Resonance** ability was spread out to its maximum range, however, I narrowed my eyes as I took out a kunai and paused in my tracks for just a moment before throwing it ahead of me. Immediately, seals appeared on the sides of the trees that were on either side of the kunai causing it to freeze in midair.

" _ **Trap Detection**_ _sure is handy…"_ I thought before going around the trap and continuing forward, yet I couldn't help but think, " _That's the 3rd one yet, but the way they are positioned…"_ There were many ways that those traps could have been set up in order to more effectively ensnare an individual, yet they weren't.

It was almost as if they weren't made to capture someone, but to lead them somewhere…

" _A trap within a trap…trapception?"_ I thought, keeping my vigilance on high alert as I again threw a kunai forward. A seal lit up from the ground causing an intense flame to rise and melt the metal projectile.

I continued moving forward for a while before I picked up 2 chakra signatures on the edge of my radar. They were moving very slowly relative to the average Jonin's speed and one was significantly smaller than the other, but more importantly, they were familiar.

" _Shiranami and Hotaru. Has he been leading me…wait no!"_ I thought as I suddenly picked up 6 more chakra signatures, each of them familiar to me.

" _Those are the same Kirigakure shinobi that I met around a week ago…"_

With that thought in mind, I moved as quickly as I could in order to catch them before they moved off grid. Maybe they had been discussing something of importance beforehand or maybe they had not yet come to an agreement, but I was able to catch up to them as their chakra signatures remained still.

I stood a good distance away while hiding behind a tree and focused my **Hawkeyes** and enhanced hearing at the 7 individuals (plus one unconscious hostage).

"You have everything we need?" One of the Kiri nin asked.

Shiranami nodded before placing down a tied up Hotaru. "This would have gone much smoother had you succeeded in obtaining her the first time around."

One of the other Kiri nin picked her up before what seemed to be the captain replied, "We were ambushed by the Leaf before we could even get close, so I can only assume they had a competent sensor. With that in mind, the most tactical option for us was to retreat since they had gotten the upper hand."

Saying so, he signaled to one of his men who nodded and stepped forward with a giant scroll in hand.

"Wait." Shiranami stated, before pointing at the scroll, "I want to see the goods up front. I can't have you screwing me over and running away."

The man with the scroll looked at his captain who nodded his head, so the Kiri nin opened up the scroll and ran his chakra through it before multiple _puffs_ sounded out.

I tried to focus even harder at the objects that had appeared and narrowed my eyes when I saw a pile of smaller scrolls on the ground in front of the Kiri nin. Shiranami stepped forward as one of the scrolls fell off the pile and rolled towards him before picking it up and opening it. With his back turned towards me, I couldn't see his expression, but oddly enough, I also couldn't sense any form of satisfaction from him.

Shiranami put the scroll down and checked a few others, yet each time his emotions remained calm and indifferent.

"The Fuuinjutsu of the Uzumaki clan." The Kiri Anbu captain stated as he watched Shiranami. "They've been rotting in our village for years on end with no one in Kirigakure skilled enough in the art to decipher them."

He motioned to the scroll wielding Kiri Anbu who nodded and began to reseal the scrolls into the giant scroll before handing it to Shiranami. The Anbu captain continued, "Since we have a powerful working seal to reference from…" he began, turning his gaze towards Hotaru, "The higher-ups agreed to your proposal."

I could detect certain smugness coming from Shiranami as he stated, "Uzushiogakure…word has it that it took the combined might of three of the Five "Great" shinobi Villages in order to destroy that one clan and even then you all suffered serious casualties. So much so that Konoha was easily able to capitalize on that opportunity leading them to take control of the 2nd Great Shinobi war. That moment echoed the decline of the legitimacy of the Five Great Nations, the aftershocks still being felt today. Wasn't it also for that reason that you became the weakest of the Great Villages due to your proximity to Uzushiogakure?"

"Why you…!"

The Anbu Captain held his hand out in order to prevent his subordinate's outburst. "We have what we want and he has what he wants, don't start anything here."

I could sense that they were sending each other subtle messages as if deciding what to do next, however that still left me with a problem. " _What to do…"_ I wasn't stupid enough to rush in there blindly and while I could come up with something, time was ticking and whatever trap I could set up in this time frame, would probably not work to my favor.

Suddenly, my eye twitched and my expression changed as I held my stomach. " _Don't tell me…"_ I thought before something climbed up my throat and began to force itself out of my mouth. I could hold it in no longer and had to open my mouth before the red toad crawled out and began floating around me.

I heaved a bread for a moment before wiping my mouth and glancing towards it.

"I guess this is where I come in huh." The toad said before extending upwards and unfurling itself. It rolled out the scroll from its body and placed its webbed hands on the reverse summoning inscription.

In a puff of smoke, a white-haired man appeared in front of me, fresh blood on his attire. He took a moment to take a look at his surroundings before he sighed, "Gamachi, this better be an emergency."

"Trust me, I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss this." The floating toad stated.

Jiraiya turned around and faced me before giving me a light smile, "What's up kid anything new?"

I looked at the man before looking at the toad and sighing. "…Over there." I said, pointing at the distance.

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes as he watched both the Kiri nin and Shiranami converse before asking, "I'm going to need some info about what's going on."

"Long story short, the black-haired guy traded that little girl over to Kiri in exchange for Uzushiogakure Fuuinjutsu Scrolls." As soon as I said that, the atmosphere around Jiraiya changed, but no sooner did the Kiri Anbu captain signal to his crew and vanish from the area.

"Gamachi." Jiraiya stated, his voice firm, "You really outdid yourself this time. Thank you."

"I just do what I always do." The toad saluted before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Jiraiya was about to move but I told him, "…The girl that the Kiri nin have is most likely related to our secondary mission."

The Sannin paused before nodding his head, "I've been doing extensive research on that technique so I'll take care of them, but you take care of the kid. You now have a tertiary mission." That said he looked at me seriously, "Secure that scroll at all costs."

Ping!

* * *

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Uzushiogakure Remnants!**

 **The Fuuinjutsu of The Uzumaki was feared and renown throughout the shinobi world to the point that three of the Five Great Ninja Villages banded together to destroy Uzushiogakure, the home of the Uzumaki clan. Kiri was one of those three and now their spoils from that war lay in the hands of your target. Secure it at all costs**

 **Reward: 150,000 EXP & Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu Scrolls**

 **Failure: Death and/or disappointing Jiraiya.**

* * *

I inclined my head before Jiraiya vanished in a burst of speed. I moved forward towards Shiranami who had been standing there silently even though the Kiri nin had already left. I stayed up in the trees and waited for an opening.

"I know you've been there since the beginning." The man stated as he held the giant scroll containing the smaller Uzumaki scrolls. "If you don't come out, you'll force my hand."

" _What does he-"_ My eyes widened as he tossed up the scroll and wrote, in midair, the kanji for "Fire" (火). I had no idea what that entailed, but I knew that Fire + Scroll = bad. My body _reacted_ and I shot out a stream of water from my mouth towards the symbol, however-

"You should have gone for the scroll." Shiranami stated with a smile as he looked my way in the trees.

It was then that I saw the kanji symbol appear on the scroll as it was in mid-air and my gaze tightened. " _Crap."_ I thought but before I could move, my **Danger Sense** warmed me of an attack and I saw Shiranami scribble in mid-air once more.

I hurriedly jumped out in the open as the kanji symbol for "Ice" (氷) appeared on the tree that I had been on causing frost to spread from the symbol outwards.

" _That means…"_ I thought, looking at the scroll as it was in the air and noting that fire was beginning to spread on it.

With little time to lose, I chopped at Shiranami with the edge of my palm causing a sharp wave of electricity to travel towards him. While he dodged, I twisted my body in mid-air and blew out a stream of water towards the scroll, dousing the fire.

I landed on the ground right below the scroll before gravity took hold and it fell into my outstretched hands. I immediately put it in my inventory just as Shiranami found his footing and gave me an odd smile.

"I'm sure you're tempted to simply escape, but if you do, it won't end well for the girl." The man stated. I looked at him carefully as I planned to simply leave regardless, but then he continued, "Oh and if you don't, I might just make her go _boom_."

My gaze tightened. " _So she does have_ _ **Fury**_ _on her, but 'make' her explode? Can it be activated remotely? And without the user's consent?"_

Many thoughts went on in my mind, but I decided to stay. With Jiraiya's level of strength, he would be able to catch up with the Kiri nin in little time and considering the blast radius of **Fury** was said to be capable of wiping out a city, he would get caught in the crossfire. As one of the Sannin, he was a valuable asset to the village and it wouldn't do to have him killed when it could be easily prevented.

Perhaps noting that I wasn't planning on moving, Shiranami smiled, "I didn't actually expect that to work. Who knew that you Konoha nin were so compassionate? What, did the old man beg you to come to save his 'precious' granddaughter or something?"

I didn't reply. " _He thinks I'm staying for Hotaru…"_ this meant that he hadn't known that Jiraiya was with me, which begged the question, "…how did you know I was here?"

He began to walk around the small clearing in careful steps which I began to imitate in the opposite direction. "The traps you set off along the way alerted me to your presence and while I didn't know who specifically was following me, the only individuals who had known what route I was taking were the guys in my Magaki Group. Considering I told them not to follow me under any circumstances…" he paused his movements, "Well, that could only mean that you Konoha nin must have successfully beaten them and gotten the information from them."

"The Dragon Mural?"

He smirked a little more, "ahh they must have told you about that didn't they?" He shook his head with a chuckle, "Yeah, I knew you and your partner were heading my way when Kiri began to invade Tsuchigumo with the fog, so I let my group know in advance, but even then they couldn't stop the two of you." There was certain mirth to his tone as he concluded, "I suppose the shinobi from the Great Ninja Villages are of a different caliber after all."

I sensed that there was something wrong here as I narrowed my eyes. " _He's too forthcoming…is he hiding something or…?"_

"There's no need to give me that look." Shiranami stated in amusement. "I promise you that I'm telling the truth."

I once more looked at him carefully. From the beginning of the conversation, I had slowly been invading his chakra system with my own chakra.

Considering, however, that he was at a higher level and would also be able to break out if I acted too rashly, I decided to ask a question that had been on my mind, "…If you didn't want the Uzumaki scrolls and you didn't want **Fury** , then what exactly is your purpose? Why bother kidnapping the village leader's granddaughter who is in possession of the technique and giving her to Kiri only to obtain a seal of scrolls that you promptly tried to burn? I thought you hated the Five Villages yet you're giving them one of your most powerful weapons?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He said before raising his finger, causing me to increase my vigilance. He then curled his finger inwards towards himself, "You can come and find out over my dead body."

I calmly observed him, taking in his relaxed stance and lackadaisical attitude...and also looking at his stats.

* * *

 **Name: Shiranami**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: Lvl 65**

 **HP: 51000/51000**

 **CP: 26000/26000**

 **STR: 500**

 **VIT: 510**

 **DEX: 500**

 **INT: 600**

 **WIS: 350**

 **ENGY: 400**

* * *

" _Yeah, this isn't going to work…"_ I thought as I saw how much stronger he was than me.

At that, I mentally placed 126 stat points in **STR** and **VIT** and put 137 in **DEX**. I might have used them all up, but I would surpass him in those stats and would have a greater shot at surviving.

Shiranami smiled at me tauntingly.

I focused my gaze.

Immediately, I threw a powerful chakra enhanced kunai at my target, who merely smirked in reply and tilted his head causing the projectile to miss and deeply lodge itself in the tree behind him.

With that complete, I clapped my hands together in a single seal and breathed in before shooting a ball of fire at my opponent. No sooner did water suddenly appear as he used his unique technique to write out the Kanji for "Water" (水) in order to counteract my **Fireball Technique**. Steam appeared following the collision of our attacks and obscuring our view, however, I could easily detect his chakra.

I gathered my chakra into a ball of electricity before firing it at the chakra signature I had detected. A small explosion to sound out, the shockwave clearing the steam around us.

It was then that I widened my eyes as I saw multiple copies of Shiranami around me, each with an identical chakra signature. " _Shadow clones…no not quite."_ I thought as I closed my eyes and spread out my **Empathy** and found out that they had no emotions. Shadow clones each had a personality that mirrored their summoner's own and had emotions, but these clones didn't. All they had was an identical chakra signature to Shiranami.

" _Over…there."_ I thought, snapping my eyes open before clapping my hands to a single seal.

" _ **Wind Release: Great Breakthrough**_ _, and."_

I switched to another hand seal in quick succession.

" _ **Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu**_ _."_

I took in a breath and molded my chakra into its fire and wind natures before combining them in my mouth and releasing a blast of blue flames. The force of the attack dispelled the Shiranami clones in my surroundings while the main brunt of it traveled to a certain area at my 1:00.

I could sense a rapid build-up of chakra from that area as Shiranami moved quickly to react. He quickly released a torrent of water at my blue flames, however, the force of my attack vaporized his and continued onwards into the forest and up toward the sky.

A devastating explosion sounded out across the forest.

A figure jumped out of the flames and coughed as it landed on the ground while the fire began to spread around the forest. Shiranami looked me in the eye before dusting the scraps of the burnt parts of his clothes off. "You could pinpoint my _exact_ location despite them being identical copies of my chakra signature…you're not an ordinary sensor."

I didn't let down my guard as I watched his every move. " _So he did figure out some of our abilities from spying on us for so long…"_

With those thoughts, I moved to attack, however, Shiranami quickly drew the character "Split" (割) in mid-air and aimed it at the ground in front of me. My gaze tightened as I immediate jumped up, just as the ground split open beneath me, however once more Shiranami wrote in the air and the character for "Rock" (岩) appeared in space.

I was in mid-air and typically would not have been able to dodge, however, the kunai I had thrown earlier was attached to thin but durable metal ninja wire, which I used to pull myself out of the way of the attack.

"Hoh?" Shiranami stated before drawing "Slash" (斬) in midair and causing blades of wind to shoot out towards me. I jumped off the tree and flipped before landing a good distance away in front of Shiranami.

" _What a troublesome opponent…"_

I thought as I gazed upon the man's smiling face.

"What's wrong?" Shiranami stated, that weird smile ever visible on his face, "If you don't come to me, I'll come to you."

Saying so he dashed forwards towards me while drawing "Explode" (爆) in midair meanwhile I quickly jumped to the side before he could complete it. The kanji appeared on the ground in the area I had just been in and caused an explosion that destroyed the surrounding area.

The shockwave from the attack blew me off course and caused me to miss my landing as I skid across the dirt on my sides. Seeing this opportunity, Shiranami appeared in front of me, however, I expelled a stream of water from my mouth before he could go back on the offensive.

Seeing this, he quickly wrote "Flames"(炎) in mid-air, causing a wall of fire to appear in front of him and block my attack.

" _Now!"_ I thought as I flipped through two handseals

" _ **Earth Release: Earth and Stone Bamboo Shoot**_ " _._

* * *

 **Earth Release: Earth and Stone Bamboo Shoot (Active) Lvl 38 [22.53%]**

 **Earth Release: Earth and Stone Bamboo Shoot condenses the soil and rock in the area to sprout out in the form of four large spikes which attack the target from four separate directions.**

 **Maximum Range: 50 meters**

 **Damage: 600% ENGY**

 **Additionally ignores 50% Enemy Durability**

 **Cost: 1000 CP**

* * *

From in front of me and in the 3 other cardinal directions around the flame wall, chakra enhanced earthen spears sprouted from the ground and impaled the center of the flame wall. I narrowed my eyes, however, when instead of hearing the sound of flesh being torn, I felt Shiranami's chakra signature disappear from behind the flames.

I immediately threw a few kunai to my right causing them to impact the tree with a thump. I felt his chakra signature move once more and so I again threw many more kunai into the tree lines and at the ground around me.

Instantly, Shiranami appeared behind me and I could feel his chakra molding.

However.

" _Checkmate."_ I thought as I twitched my fingers causing ninja wire to wrap around Shiranami and hold him in place. The kunai I had thrown all had metal ninja wire attached to them which I had used to form a "net" around myself which I could use to trap him.

"W-When did you…?" Shiranami began as he struggled to move.

"Since the beginning." I stated blandly while turning around and noting the kanji for "To Manipulate" (操) disappearing from the air as he gripped his fist that had been inches away from my body. From the beginning, I had moved to trap him in a subtle genjutsu so that he would not be able to see the net I had created around myself.

I looked up to the sky, noting that thunderclouds were forming and that it was beginning to rain. " _I guess I didn't need that…"_ I thought before turning back to Shiranami. "…I'll have you stay here-"

Immediately, my body froze as terrible foreboding feeling overwhelmed me, one which I came to soon understand as Shiranami opened the palm of his hand with a smile.

"Burn."

I widened my eyes as a torrent of intense flames spewed out from his hand.

Steam covered the battlefield once more as I jump back from the assault, however, I didn't come out unharmed.

 **-8135**

 **[Yorudan]**

 **HP: 57537/65672**

The left side of my body was covered with intense burns and I could barely see out of my left eye. My thoughts, however, strayed elsewhere…

"Ahh, I was so close." Shiranami stated as rain fell and the steam dispelled. "I was hoping to melt your face off. That's too bad."

I regarded him down carefully. " _He had the kanji for "Fire" (_ _火_ _) inscribed on his right palm…"_ If it hadn't been for the fact that I could expel water techniques without handseals, I most likely wouldn't have a face anymore.

"Oh? What's with that look?" Shiranami stated with a smile before tilting his head. "Is it because of these?" He stated as he opened both his right and left palms, allowing me to see the kanji for "Fire" (火) And "Wind" (風).

" _What other ones does he have…"_ I thought while subtly keeping my distance.

"To be honest, I didn't think I would have to go this far to beat you." Shiranami stated as lightning began to cover his frame. "You should be grateful though. I now consider you a threat."

With that said, he vanished.

And in the next moment…

I flew.

My body was hurled back, my arms crossed against my chest as I had negated the brunt of the attack due to my **Danger Sense**. My body crashed through trees from the force of the impact so, I forced myself to turn and backflip before gliding to a halt on the ground.

 **-6440**

 **[Yorudan]**

 **HP: 51097/65672**

However, before I could fully regain my bearings, a stream of intense white fire rushed towards me. In response, I hurriedly spread out my chakra and used the rain that was falling to create a wall of water.

I jumped out of the steam that followed from the impact of the two techniques but had to hastily go through a hand seal as a bolt of lightning flew my way. I didn't finish, however, as I was forced to block a powerful attack from above that sent me hurtling to the ground.

I flipped and landed on all fours before quickly jumping back as my **Danger Sense** warned me once more. The area I had been at caved immensely from the force of the attack that just struck it.

"Interesting…" Shiranami's voice sounded out as he appeared from the crater he had created. "Whenever you've used a water or lightning style technique, you haven't used hand seals, but for the other elemental technique types, you have." He then smiled, "It seems like my method is much more efficient." With that statement, he opened the palm of his hands and shot out a burst of fire and wind which combined to form white flames.

I flipped through two hand seals and spewed out my blue flames to counter them causing a wave of blue and white fire to ascend to the clouds.

" _What to do…"_ I thought as the flames died down and I crossed my arms to block another attack.

It was then that I noticed something…

" _His chakra…"_ I steeled my gaze and blocked another attack from the side causing my bones to creak in protest. I flew back once more and applied the **Mystic Palm Technique** to myself in order to boost my regen.

It was short lived as I took another attack, however, I could feel the difference this time around. " _He's getting weaker…"_

I continued blocking each attack he threw at me while I utilized my healing abilities to keep myself alive. With each attack, I could sense growing frustration building up within him.

"Why. Won't. You. Die?!" He yelled as he launched a lighting coated punch to my crossed arms.

I grunted as he impacted my bruised arms once more, however, I was able to safely land on the ground before jumping back a couple paces just as Shiranami landed in front of me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, seeing the snarl on his face. "You were so energetic earlier. Could it be that you have none left?" I concluded.

"Tsk." He stated as some perspiration leaked from his body, though it was masked by the rain.

" _The techniques he implants onto his body use up a lot more chakra than usual…"_ I thought as I measured him carefully, my body still healing.

"You can take a beating…I'll give you that." The man stated before lightly smiling. "However, I'm not going to play games with you."

I soon found out what he meant as an _immense_ pressure weighed down on my body, more specifically, both my arms. I was barely able to stand from the force as it felt like 100s of tons were weighing me down.

I looked to my arms as I felt foreign chakra on it, and I widened my eyes as I saw the kanji for "Heavy" (重) was written all over them. " _W-What…?"_

Shiranami smiled. "You didn't think I was just hitting you did you?" He stated though I could sense his chakra dropping even faster than before. "I didn't actually think you would still be alive after I used my inscriptions, but I would rather be safe than sorry." He finished as he looked down on me.

I struggled to move, however, it was to no avail as the burden was too great for me to move effectively. I could only watch as Shiranami approached me with a smile before pulling me up and kneeing me in the gut.

 **-5313**

 **[Yorudan]**

 **HP: 37857/65672**

" _Ow…"_ I thought before I felt my neck being grabbed.

"All you people from the '5 Great Villages' are all the same." He stated before kneeing me once more.

 **-5133**

 **[Yorudan]**

 **HP: 32724/65672**

"You step on us smaller, weaker and insignificant villages and ignore the consequences your actions have on us." He said before tossing me to the ground and stomping on my chest, causing me to cough as my ribs crack.

 **-5277**

 **[Yorudan]**

 **HP: 27447/65672**

He looked down at me apathetically, "Do you even know why **Fury** was even created in the first place?" He asked rhetorically, pressing down on my ribs and causing their cracks to splinter, "It was to avenge the grievances our clan had faced in the war that your so called 'Great Villages' started. That's why it was named _Fury_." Saying so, he removed his foot before kicking my body to the side before finishing, "But in the end that pathetic old man decided to rely on the people he used to fight against, but I'm not him."

He drew the character "To Manipulate" (操) in mid-air before it appeared on my body, and I suddenly felt like I lost control of my functions. My body began to move without my volition before Shiranami took off the Anbu mask from my face. "I will collapse the structure of the shinobi world, one hidden village at a time starting with the village that gave purpose to the creation of **Fury**. Kirigakure."

I looked at him for a moment before raising my head to the sky, "…It's still raining."

"Hmm?" Shiranami stated as he looked up before his eyes suddenly widened in remembrance as he saw the puddles of water all around us.

Immediately large tentacles of water wrapped around Shiranami's legs, arms, torso, and neck before I released as much chakra from my core.

The hold he had on my body began to slowly dissipate as he was not only too exhausted and occupied to keep it, but because I held much more chakra than he. With a little more exertion, I broke free of his technique.

He looked at me in surprise. "How-"

"You were exerting a lot of chakra to bind me, so I just exerted more than you." I stated as my hands glowed a pale green as I began to heal my wounds.

"How can you have more chakra than me! You're a fucking child!" Shiranami's yelled, his expression tight. He tried to struggle free of his bonds, however with each water tentacle that he broke, many more quickly took its place. It didn't help that he was incredibly exhausted from using his inscriptions and had little energy left.

"Who knows." I said as my wounds began to close. I looked behind Shiranami at the result of my fire attack that I had used at the beginning of the match. I had used the energy from my combination attack to warm the atmosphere and create a powerful rising air current, which in turn generated the thunderclouds. The sky had already been overcast before so I had merely sped up the process and with the rain generated form the condensed clouds, I had gained a much greater field advantage.

Shiranami's head hung low before his shoulder trembled as he chuckled. His head snapped up towards me and I could see his eye gleam in madness.

My **Danger Sense** screamed at me to move.

My body acted on instinct as I jumped back and crossed my arms simultaneously noticing a giant glowing "Explode" (爆) symbol on Shiranami's chest just before he detonated.

His chakra spiked as an enormous wave of bright energy was released from his body. From my proximity to him, I could only watch as the energy consumed everything around him while also inching its way towards me.

Immediately, time slowed down, or more accurately, my perception of time did.

 **Accelerated Analysis** worked at full capacity as my brain began to process information at a rapid rate. Just as the destructive wave of energy began to sizzle the skin of my nose, I thought to myself,

" _ **ID Create: Empty**_ "

Immediately, my body dropped to the ground causing me to groan. I looked up to the red cloudy sky as rain continued to fall on my muddied form.

" _Rain appears in_ _ **ID**_ ' _s too…"_

And with that, I thought to myself once more,

" _ **ID Escape**_ _."_

Immediately, my body dropped once more as I fell into a crater causing me to groan. Silence dominated the surroundings with the only visible sound being the _drip drop_ of the rain against my face the ground and puddles. I sighed and shakily stood up before cleaning the mud off my face and body with some water manipulation. I tried to move my shoulder, however, I noted it was dislocated, so I popped it back in place. I began to heal myself before sighing. " _I almost died…"_

The rush from the experience left my body and I began to feel some pain from my limbs, but with **Gamer's Mind** , I was able to mostly ignore it.

" _If Kotoe finds out, she'll probably kill me…"_ I thought while taking slow steps towards Shiranami's immobile body that lay at the center of the crater. I likewise looked around, noting that the area in a 100-meter radius around me was vaporized. The trees had been completely obliterated with the rock and stone being shredded down to grain. Now, the only visible matter on the ground was the mud and Shiranami's burnt corpse.

As I stood above him, I noted the obvious hole in his chest and looked at his body for a moment.

" _What exactly was his goal?"_ I thought before looking to my right just as Jiraiya landed in front of me with a girl in hand. There was now even more fresh blood on his attire, but I ignored it as I gazed up at him, "I take it everything went alright with the retrieval?"

He nodded his head before taking out a scroll and handing it to me. "These are the details of what I could glean from my research on the technique and…" He looked at Hotaru, more specifically her back, before frowning "The implant on her back. It's inactive now though so no worries."

I nodded my head.

"You really did a number on him kid." Jiraiya stated as he looked at Shiranami's sorry state.

I shook my head, "…He did it to himself. He tried to blow us both up as a last resort but I was able to avoid it in time. So, are we done here?"

Jiraiya didn't spare the guy a second glance before he nodded. "Yes, we are." Saying so he gave me Hotaru, "You take her back to the village and in the meantime, I have to file a report to the Hokage about Kiri and more importantly, the Uzumaki scrolls. You have them, do you not?"

I nodded my head and took out the giant scroll from my inventory with a little smoke show for effect.

Jiraiya nodded his head before saying, "Keep them safe till you get back to the village, I know that someone there might have strong feelings about it."

Seeing me incline my head, Jiraiya vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Ping!

 **Quest Complete!**

 **Uzushiogakure Remnants!**

 **Reward: 150,000 EXP & Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu Scrolls**

 **You have leveled up by 1!**

I swiped the message away and looked to the forest, noting that the rain had doused the forest fire that my earlier technique had created. With that, I hoisted Hotaru up in my shoulders and dashed through the forest back towards the village.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **One of my longer chapters, but I hope it was enjoyable. I'm about halfway done with the first arc of this fanfiction.**

 **Also, don't slam me for my pseudo-science in this chap. I know Sasuke did something similar in his battle with Itachi, but I'm not sure if it would actually rain...**

 **Ugh, I've come to understand how annoying it is to copy and paste my works form google docs to here. The formatting of stories here removes some of my important edits like bullet points and the spaces between stats. I have to go back and manually correct them which is annoying cause I still can't use bullet points so I have to use spaces. Another annoying thing is that this format doesn't allow me to do super/sub-script so I have to use (^) to signal exponents. Small things like that are kind of annoying to go through : (.**

 **Anyway, rant over. U** **ntil next week.**


	13. Chapter 13

Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Jutsu'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Jutsu'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **SonJubbi: The truthful answer is that the stat curve in my story is pretty high and I don't have the imagination to come up with a perk every basic 50 stat points. In my story, Yoru will get a perk when his basic stats hit: 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, etc. Why do the stats get so high? I was trying to bring in some semblance of realism as Kage Naruto, who is Planet level+, would really only need to flick his finger to kill other Kage-level shinobi. Of course, this doesn't happen in the show because it wouldn't be interesting and all that, but I'm not trying to have PIS (Plot induced stupidity) in my story (unless for mild forms of comedic relief). Hoped that answered your question.**

 **seto: Yoru is definitely not emotional enough to weaponize it lol.**

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

I quickly dashed through the trees back towards Tsuchigumo village as I held an extra passenger in hand. In but a couple minutes of travel, I arrived at the front of the ruined door of the clan leader's house and felt the chakra of Boar & the rest of the crew within.

With that, I stepped into the house and made my way towards where I could sense everyone's chakra signature. I could hear the conversation going on behind the door of the living area as I approached it.

Boar: "You violated the trust that our Hokage placed in you and your village."

En no Gyoja: "It was the only way that I could ensure the safety of the village-"

Viper: "Bullshit! Tell that to the injured soldiers and civilians who suffered from Kiri's attack. If you wanted to better ensure the safety of your village, you should have worked with us, not against."

Hato: "Hey, that's no way to talk to my Village leader!"

Kotoe: "…Didn't your son recently go rogue and kidnap said leader's granddaughter?"

There was an awkward silence at that statement from my teacher before I entered the room. "I'm back."

Heads snapped towards my sudden appearance, except for my teacher who had most likely already sensed my chakra signature from a while away.

Boar looked at me and the girl on my shoulders before stating, "Report."

I gently placed Hotaru down before replying, "I went after Shiranami and retrieved the girl…" Saying so, I paused before looking at Hato and Gyoja, noting the surprised looked on their faces, "What exactly had Shiranami been planning? Even after all the effort he went through, he ended up killing himself in the end for basically nothing. I'm quite curious."

Gyoja's eyes were slightly widened as he gazed upon my form and Hotaru's. "Y-your alive…"

I raised a brow, "Did you expect me to die?"

He paused and stared at me for a moment before looking away with a sigh and gripping his fists.

Kazemona looked at the man while idly cleaning her blade, "You know something that you're not telling us." Saying so, she brought up the blade to the artificial lighting in the house and continued, "It would be beneficial for your health to speak."

"You-"

Gyoja extended his hand, preventing Hato from speaking further. He looked towards Hotaru for a moment before speaking, "…If my guess if right, from what I could gather while I was at his mercy, he most likely sought to destroy Water Country from within."

"Excuse me?" My teacher asked, her eyes sharp

Once more Gyoja sighed before continuing, "My granddaughter…I implanted the kinjutsu **Fury** on her back."

The air stilled.

"And why exactly did you do that?" Boar asked unamused.

"For her protection." The clan leader replied. "One day I would no longer cease to be. I hoped for her to be able to protect herself once that day came to pass and to continue my legacy."

"Some protection that was." Kotoe replied before asking, "Then? How does that fit in with destroying Kirigakure?"

Gyoja hesitated to answer for a moment, so I stepped in. "… I believe I might be able to answer that." With everyone's attention on me, I continued, "When I was facing Shiranami, he mentioned remotely activating **Fury** on Hotaru's back. It's important to note that at this time, he had already handed over possession of Hotaru to a group of Kirigakure Anbu."

Boar's eyes turned serious, "You mean…?"

I nodded. "Most likely, his plan was to wait for the Kirigakure Anbu to bring Hotaru within the walls of the village before activating **Fury** and destroying it from within."

"That's…" My teacher said.

Even Wolf's usually stoic expression turned grave at that. "What a scheme. Though I have to ask, how were you able to bring her back if she had already been captured by Kiri? Hadn't you been preoccupied fighting the kid?"

It was a question I could sense had been on their mind ever since I explained that, so I replied simply, "I had some _help_."

I could sense the understanding in my teammates' gaze before I looked towards Gyoja who had a difficult expression on his face. "I can understand what his plan was and maybe even his motives, but if he went through all that trouble, why did he simply give up?"

The old man sighed. "The **Tsuchigumo Style: Forbidden Life Technique Release: Creation of Heaven and Earth**."

I tilted my head at the name of the technique.

Likely sensing everyone's confusion and probably deciding not to hide anymore, Gyoja continued, "It allows the user to remotely control the detonation of a user of **Fury** without their consent, but it has an additional function." Saying so, he looked straight at me, "It can be set to go off at certain conditions the user sets, for example, …death."

My expression changed, " _If Jiraiya hadn't been able to inactivate the technique in time…"_

"I see." Boar said before standing up straight. "At any rate, your granddaughter is back to you safely and while it is unfortunate about your son…" Tsuchiyo said, looking at Hato's difficult expression. "There's nothing else we can really do." With that, he looked to the rest of us. "Let's go."

With that, he disappeared, everyone else following soon after. I looked at Hotaru, Hato, and Gyoja for a moment longer before Body Flickering away back towards my residential area.

As soon as I arrived, I noticed that everyone had already begun to go their own way. I looked towards my teacher who caught my gaze and smiled before heading towards her room.

" _I suppose they are all exhausted."_ I thought before heading to the living room. I looked up to the dragon mural on the wall and squinted my eyes for a moment before pointing at it with my index finger and piercing through it with a beam of electricity.

With that complete, I sat on the couch and entered my inventory before pulling out the schematics for **Fury** that Jiraiya had obtained.

" _It's about time…"_ I thought while looking at it. With this information in hand, I would be able to perfect the seal I had been working on, so I wasted no time in opening the scroll and reading through its contents.

" _Definitely worth the effort…"_

* * *

The aftermath of the Kiri attack against Tsuchigumo was a "victory" for them, however, in war, there was never truly a winner. The only real measurement of "victory" was by how little you lost compared to your opponents and by that token, Tsuchigumo lost a relatively small amount compared to Kiri.

The fog attack that had blocked Kotoe's and my sensory abilities seemed to have been more of a diversion for Shiranami to make his escape and collude with Kirigakure. In the end, he ended up dead with his plan foiled and I brought back Hotaru to her grandfather.

Now, a couple days had passed and we currently stood at the entrance of the Tsuchigumo Village. Around me was my group and in front of me was Jiraiya who was having a conversation with the Village leader. I eavesdropped with my enhanced hearing and found out that it was mainly Jiraiya "politely" telling the Village leader about how the Hokage was not pleased with his conduct of spying on his ninjas, something about trust, etcetera, etcetera.

Gyoja looked resigned before he handed Jiraiya a scroll, but before I could eavesdrop any further, I felt a tug at my sleeves. Glancing to my sides, I found a slightly flushed Hotaru who was gripping her fists tightly while looking down.

"…What is it?" I asked

"T-Thank you." She said, bowing. She then straightened herself. "It's thanks to you that I'm still alive, a-and, umm…"

I watched her fiddle around for a moment before sighing, "Don't mind it. I was just doing my job."

She paused before looking up at me with puffed cheeks and a sharp glare. "Hmph." She stated as she turned away from me, leaving me confused.

" _I know what your intentions are, but I didn't even say anything bad…"_ I decided to inwardly shrug and ignore it. Even if I could perfectly read a person's emotions, a woman's heart would forever be a mystery.

As I delved deeper into those thoughts, I suddenly felt a soft sensation on my cheek causing me to blink and turn to my side only to notice that Hotaru was already running away. I relaxed my gaze and stroked my cheek before shaking my head.

"Hehe, look at you slaying at such a young age Yoru. I'm so proud." Baipa stated as he shed mock tears. "Making girls twice your age swoon over you, tsk tsk, you work too fast. Sameki would be so proud of you."

" _Shark…"_ I thought as Viper mentioned the individual who had jump-started my pursuit of a medical technique that was powerful enough to regrow limbs. " _And now, I can complete it…"_

"You should take notes from the kid Bai. Maybe you'll be able to learn what makes women prefer him rather than you." Kazemona stated as she appeared behind Viper.

A cloud of depression seemed to form over his head at the blunt statement and he left me to bang his head on the village wall.

"Hmph." Wolf stated before crossing her arms and turning her gaze towards Jiraiya's conversation with the Village leader. "Who would have thought that the old man had been spying on us?"

"Tell me about it." Kotoe stated as she appeared behind me and added her own input. "It's a good thing we don't talk about anything compromising to the village when outside its walls…not that my team could anyway." She finished, pointing at her tongue which had the **Cursed Tongue Sealing** on it as well.

"I'm just glad that I don't have to stay in that room anymore." Turtle stated, appearing out of nowhere. "Who knows how else he's been spying on us? Maybe there were even devices in each individual room or something…"

The wind blew past us…

They all shuddered.

"If that's true I should skin that old man myself." Kazemona stated while gripping her fists.

"That's unnecessary." Boar stated as he appeared with his crew right behind him. "I'm sure that Jiraiya is already expressing the displeasure that the Hokage felt."

As soon as he said that, Jiraiya seemed to have finished his conversation and appeared before us before handing over the mission scroll to Boar. "Now you guys can head off. I still have work to do so I won't be joining you on your trip back home, but make sure to get back in one piece."

"Yes sir." Boar stated and bowed slightly, which we all followed.

"Alright then let's move." The man said and jumped ahead with the rest of us following him soon after.

* * *

"Well done on your mission." The Hokage stated as he looked at us from across his desk. He continued. "Now then, for your unofficial mission?"

The air got more serious as I pulled out the schematics of the technique that Jiraiya had drawn. It was based on the information he had stolen from the clan leader while my team had been there in addition to the information he had gotten from the technique that had been engraved on Hotaru's back. I had studied and memorized the schematics in its entirety and was now fully confident in completing my skill, so I had no qualms in parting with the scroll.

I handed the scroll over to the Hokage who stored it elsewhere. "Another one for the scroll of sealing. Now then, you are all dismissed, save for you Yoru."

"Yes, Lord Hokage!" They chorused before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. My teacher gave me a wink before she too went off.

The atmosphere between the Hokage and I turned serious.

"I've heard that you've come into possession of some Uzumaki sealing techniques recorded in various scrolls."

I nodded my head causing a distant look to appear in the Hokage's eyes. He then shook his head "Just make sure that they get returned to their rightful owner."

"Yes, Lord Hokage." I replied causing the old man to smile.

"Good, now you are dismissed."

Ping!

 **Quest Complete!**

 **The Power of Fury!**

 **Objective 1 Reward: 300,000 EXP & 50,000 Ryo**

 **Objective 2 Reward: 100,000 EXP & 'Fury' Schematics**

 **You have leveled up by 1!**

 **You have leveled up by 1!**

 **You have leveled up by 1!**

"Thank you, Lord Hokage." I said before walking out the room before vanishing

* * *

I arrived in front of the door to the Namikaze-Uzumaki Household, placed my palm to the side of the door frame and flared my chakra. The door clicked and opened allowing me to enter the house just as Kushina came into view.

"Ahh Yoru! You've completed your mission." She said with a smile.

I nodded, "Yeah it's actually something I would like to talk to you about…among other things."

She raised a brow but signaled me in nonetheless, "Well come on in, make yourself at home."

"Thank you." I replied before stepping into the house and sitting down on the living room couch.

Kushina came to the living room from the kitchen and placed down a cup of tea on the table in front of me before asking, "Well? I'm curious about what this is all about?"

"Well…" I began before pulling out a giant scroll from my "Storage seal".

Kushina blinked, "Ohh…?"

I nodded my head and unfurled the scroll before running my chakra through it. With some _puffs_ , smoke began to fill the room.

I had it open one of the smaller scrolls that had appeared. "It would take a while to explain the circumstances of the matter, but long story during my mission I came in between an exchange between my target and Kirigakure with Kirigakure supplying this."

Here, the clone gave the scroll to Kushina who held it in her hand before her body shook. "T-This is…my clan's…!"

I nodded my head. "Kiri, as one of the three nations that attacked Uzushiogakure, obtained some spoils of war but it seemed like they never found any suitable way of using or deciphering it so they used it as an exchange."

I paused as I didn't get a reply before tilting my head at Kushina's emotions. "…you all-" before I could even complete that sentence, I was immediately wrapped in a tight hug and found my head in her bosom.

I heard her sniffle and felt the tears fall onto my head as she whispered, "Thank you…thank you so much."

I closed my eyes, "There's no need to thank me."

"Hush you." She replied while holding me. After a moment she let go of me and wiped a tear from her eye. "You have no idea how much this means to me. Obtaining a remnant of my clan's past…" she continued, looking at the scrolls. "Really, I can't thank you enough." She concluded, looking at me with a bright smile.

I awkwardly scratched the back of my head.

Kushina chuckled at my discomfort. "Well, is there anything else you want to tell me?"

I thought for a moment before shaking my head, "No, those were the main things."

She accepted my reply before asking, "Well, now that you are done with your mission, you got any specific plans?"

"Actually, I do." I said causing her to look on in interest. "I found the missing piece for the project I had been working on, so in a couple months or so, I should be done with my technique."

She looked at me with a smile, "I'm glad that your mini project is almost done, but you've never actually told me what it is for."

"Secret."

She rolled her eyes, "Fine be that way. On that topic, Minato is almost done with his Fuuinjutsu project so maybe you two can celebrate together or something when you're done."

I tilted my head, "Almost done? I thought he had already completed that project about a year ago? The **Flying Thunder God Technique** or something."

Kushina sighed "Yeah…" Here her expression turned irritable, "But then he decided to jump into _another_ project based on that technique. He says he should be done with it in a few months so do with that information what you will."

"Thank you for letting me know."

Kushina looked at me in amusement. "Well, go on and do whatever it is you usually do, I'll be here if you need me."

I nodded my head and dispelled my clone before vanishing in a Body Flicker.

* * *

 **Months Later**

* * *

 _In the darkness, I could see the twinkling of lights in the distance._

" _Here again." I said to myself as I floated in the void before closing my eyes. As soon as I opened them, however, instead of being closer to the "stars" my body had actually moved further away._

 _How did I know?_

 _Because now I could see even more twinkling stars, however, something caught my eye which made me furrow my brows. With my body now further away, I could now see a more complete picture of the amount of "stars" and it then that I noticed that they formed an odd constellation._

" _A large tree…?"_

 _Large might have been an understatement considering that I had to be this far away to get the full picture. As a matter of fact, how did distance even work here? Was I actually light years away from those stars? And if so then that tree-like constellation must have been like the size of a galaxy._

 _Before I could comprehend it any further, I was suddenly yanked away from the area…_

* * *

 **Congratulations! 'Meditation' has leveled up by 1!**

 **Meditation (Active) Lvl 91 [48.67%].**

 **Meditation is a skill created through continuous inner focus. Meditation helps to sharpen focus and order thoughts, and it increases clarity of mind and awareness of the body.**

 **Passively increase INT by 182%.**

 **Passively increase WIS by 182%.**

 **Passively increase ENGY by 182%**

 **HP and CP regeneration increase by 910% when active.**

 **(NOTE: Cannot be activated during combat. At higher** levels **, you are able to better sit still and the rate of HP and CP regeneration increases.**

I opened my eyes before cracking my neck and looking in front of me. " _First those odd scenes and now a tree…"_ I thought before shaking my head and focusing in front of me. " _I'm pretty much done…"_ I stated in satisfaction as I gazed upon the culmination of my years of work.

The notes that Jiraiya had given me about **Fury** had really been the finishing touches I needed to complete my seal. I had been able to use the blueprints of **Fury** to create a system of seals that would prevent Natural Energy from mixing with the user's chakra. The technique itself was amazing as **Fury** completely filtered out the natural energy from the bearer's chakra preventing any sort of petrification to the user.

Another issue had been matching the input of Natural Energy to the output of chakra that the user was using for their technique. The **Fury** schematics hadn't been too helpful in that regard since the technique itself just gathered a bunch of natural energy with no true regulation. Fortunately, I had figured out that issue on my own over the past few months, so that had become a nonissue.

With those thoughts, I looked at the 99.99% complete seal in front of me, noting the intricate layers of patterns that overlapped and complemented each other.

" _Now time for the finishing touch."_ I thought before dipping my brush in ink before channeling my chakra through it and adding one more minute detail.

Ping!

 **Congratulations! Your Seal has reached completion according to your specifications!**

 **What would you like to name it?**

" _Natural Healing."_

Ping!

 **The seal [Natural Healing] has reached completion!**

I stretched out my limbs before looking at my completed work. " _There's no better time than now…"_ I thought before creating a clone in front of me.

It nodded its head and, with the completed formula for the seal in mind, it placed its hand on my right shoulder and began to inscribe the formula for the technique onto my arm with its chakra. I was at a point in my Fuuinjutsu mastery where I didn't need a brush to write down or draw seals and could simply do it with my chakra and any solid surface.

I would still need a brush and canvas to practice with and create new seals though. If I didn't perfect a seal on paper and I simply inscribed it on my body with chakra and there was a mistake in it, I would be kind of screwed. Seals formed by chakra did _not_ come out so easily.

With those thoughts in mind, lines and lines of script appeared all over my body originating from my clone's point of contact with my shoulder. The black lines of script suddenly stopped spreading before they rapidly converged to my shoulder and formed a unique image. With the seal completed, the clone dispelled, providing me images for how the inscribed seal looked on my shoulder.

The difference between inscribing seals with just your chakra and creating them with a brush and scroll was that with the brush and scroll/paper, you were heavily limited in your design options since the seal had to follow the pre-established rules or laws of Fuuinjutsu. Everything from the brush stroke to the amount of ink used had to be perfect. Each stroke had to mean something and any deviation could cause a huge failure.

With just your chakra, however, you were able to bend and create the seal you wanted by molding your chakra into the correct form, however, you could make it take on whatever visual appearance you wanted, granted that you were good enough to do so. Of course, your chakra control and knowledge of Fuuinjutsu had to be ridiculously high in order to accomplish this.

With that in mind I had essentially given myself a tattoo of the Penrose triangle on my shoulder, however, there were more designs to it to make it flair.

Why the Penrose triangle?

"… _because it's cool."_

With that, I decided to test out my technique to see if it would work well.

" _And I know just where to go…"_

Thinking along those lines, I stood up and dusted myself off before creating a Henge of a simple black sleeveless shirt to show off my new "tattoo" and a pair of black sweatpants. I checked myself out for a moment before exiting my apartment.

Yep, I had gotten my own little place.

I was getting older now and Kotoe had wanted me to start being more independent.

So she pretty much kicked me out.

I had plenty of money saved up from the missions I had undertaken since I was 6 and since I was deemed more than responsible enough to manage my finances, I had gotten access to my money in order to pay for this place.

By the way, my apartment was literally next door to Kotoe's place. I mean, the landlady was sweet and the place was cheap and decent enough for my liking so there was no reason why I wouldn't get it.

I thought for a moment before sighing and taking off my Kakashi-esque face mask with a _puff_. I thought It had been cool for the first couple years but now I had begun not to really care for it anymore.

I suppose I grew out of it.

With that said, I hopped up on the rooftops and traveled across the village until I came upon the forest of death. Without a moment's hesitation, I entered the place and jumped across the foliage before I came across a giant scorpion that was missing its tail and was on its last breath.

 **[King Scorpion]**

 **Level: 70**

 **HP: 3000/65455**

" _Bingo…"_ I thought before I hopped down the tree and landed in front of the scorpion. The giant creature could not even muster the strength to move, so I approached it and placed my hand on its shell. "…You're in a lot of pain aren't you?"

The scorpion barely shuddered in response and I could see it's health rapidly dropping. "If you are lucky, this will bring you back to full health and if not, then that's just your luck."

Saying that I activated my **Mystic Palm Technique** and in the same moment, the **Natural Healing** seal on my right shoulder glowed a dull green color. I felt strange but calming energy flow through my body, but I did nothing to it as my seal regulated the input of the energy to the output of my **Mystic Palm Technique**.

" _So this is natural Energy…"_ I thought as I felt it flow through my arm and augment the **Mystic Palm Technique**. The pale green light of **Mystic Palm** turned dark green and I could see the health of the scorpion quickly rising but more importantly-

"Look at that, your tail's growing back." I stated out loud. The creature began to stir as a new stinger formed from its empty socket. It started off as a baby stinger before it began to grow in size and reach a length of 5 meters.

" _It works perfectly…"_ I thought as the scorpion stood up and waved its tail around before giving a deafening scorpion like roar (whatever that sounded like). It turned to face me before turning away and walking back into the deeper parts of the forest.

Ping!

 **The combination of [Mystic Palm Technique] and [Natural Healing] has formed a new skill!**

 **What would you like to name it?**

" _Mystical Healing."_

Ping!

 **Congratulations! You have created the skill [Mystical Healing]**

 **Mystical Healing (Active) Lvl MAX**

 **Mystical Healing is a combination skill composed of the Mystic Palm Technique and the Natural Healing seal. With this, not only does the user have an augmented Healing ability, but they can also regrow limbs and lost body parts. It converts the user's chakra and natural energy into organic matter for the growth of the new tissue.**

 **100X Increase to HP regeneration rate (10000%)**

 **Cost: Varies based on the degree of the wound.**

 **Caution: The regrown limb might be petrified into stone depending on the level of** the CC **of the user. (If the user has 95% CC, 5% of the regrown limb will turn to stone.)**

I looked at the skill description carefully.

" _I create new organic matter which was expected, but otherwise…Neat."_ I thought before reading through it once more. From the looks of it, it would be a terrible idea to have anyone with poor Chakra control learn this skill. In the case that their chakra control was average, they could still heal someone and regrow their limbs, but the worse their CC was the more the regrown limb would become stone. It wasn't all bad though since the stone parts could simply be cut out and re-healed until it was negligible.

Satisfied with my results so I quickly exited the forest and headed towards Kushina's place. I arrived in front of the door to her house and flared my chakra before being allowed access. The door clicked open and I entered the building before calling out, "Anyone home?"

I hear the pitter patter of small footsteps approaching my position before a child came into view. She was around 2 years old with crimson hair and blue eyes and she looked at me with a smile.

"Yo~Ru!"

My expression softened, "Mito."

I kneeled down to her level and she wobbled towards me before giving me a hug. I patted her head before asking, "Where's your mom or dad?"

The little girl lifted her head and pointed behind her where Kushina was standing with her hands on her hips. "You shouldn't run like that Mito, what if you fall and get hurt?"

The girl dug her face into my shirt before I picked her up and placed her on my shoulders.

Kushina sighed, "I swear, this kid…" She shook her head before smiling at me. "And you always spoil her."

" _Cause She's cute…"_

Perhaps seeing my expression, Kushina shook her head with a smile before walking towards the kitchen. "Well, what brings you here?"

I nodded and followed Kushina to the kitchen. "…I finished it."

She paused and raised a brow before continuing her food preparation. "Ohh? Minato says that he's just about done with his project as well. So does this mean that you finally plan on telling me what type of seal it is or whatever type of technique you created?"

I nodded my head. "I was planning on scheduling an appointment to meet the Hokage and tell him about my project, but I figured you should know first."

Kushina chuckled before stating, "Then out with it."

"It's a seal to gather natural energy and use it to augment the traditional **Mystic Palm Technique** and create a technique that could regrow limbs and other lost body parts. The significant part is that as long as you have sufficient chakra control and mastery of the **Mystic Palm Technique** , you can use this skill, though there are some side-"

It was at this point that I finally noted that Kushina was staring at me wide-eyed as if I was some sort of alien.

"…What's wrong?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose, "Did you just tell me that you created a technique that could _regrow_ body parts and you are asking me _what's wrong_?"

I blinked. "…yes?"

She gave me an odd look and pinched my cheeks, "I really want to know what goes on in this head of yours." She eventually stopped abusing my face and looked at me in seriousness, "If what you created is true and if the enemy ever finds out you exist, you can expect your name in the bingo book at the highest bounty. With so many of Konoha's soldiers inactive due to permanently debilitating injuries such as severed limbs, your ability could completely change the war."

"…I know, which is why I hadn't told anyone about it until I was done. You are the first person to know."

Kushina softened her expression before rubbing my head, "Thanks for your trust in me Yoru."

"Of course."

"I trust Yo~Ru too!" Mito yelled from on top of my head causing Kushina to chuckle.

"Ohh right." Kushina stated as she seemingly remembered something. "Happy birthday!"

"Happy Birf~day!"

I thought about that to myself. " _I'm 8 today…"_ It was weird to me that 4 years had gone by just like that almost like a dream.

Kushina continued, "I know that you don't really want anything for your birthday, but Minato said he had something prepared for you. If you want him he should be out in the back in his little shed."

I nodded, "I'll keep that in mind, thank you."

"Of course." Kushina stated with a smile as she continued her cooking. "In the meantime, I'll be prepping breakfast so you can stay for that if you like."

I slightly bowed. "I'll be intruding on you."

She rolled her eyes and waved me off, "Yes yes, you and your formalities. Go off and do whatever, also…" she gave me a bright smile, "You look 10 times cooler without that mask on."

I slightly flushed but my darker skin must have prevented it from showing as Kushina didn't make fun of me for it.

She would never miss that opportunity.

With that, I exited the kitchen and headed for the backdoor before rolling my eye upwards towards Mito, "You wanna go see your dad?"

"Yes! Papa~!"

A small smirk crept its way on my lips as I walked out to the backyard and approached what Kushina called "The Shed" and what Minato called, "His Lair". It was a small building that took up an era of around 400 feet2 and was guarded with a few seals that would repel foreign chakra signatures or prevent people from entering if the occupant was busy.

I stepped in front of the door and raised my hand to knock on it, however-

"Come in." Minato's voice stated from within.

I lowered my hand. "Sorry for the intrusion." I stated while opening the door and entering the building. I took a cursory glance at the interior, admiring the various inscriptions and Fuuinjutsu formulas that littered the walls and floor.

I looked forward towards Minato whose hair was a mess and who looked like he hadn't slept in days, yet I could sense an intense feeling of satisfaction emanating from his body.

"I'm finally done." He stated before standing up and stretching. He turned around and smiled, "Ah Yoru, you're here."

I nodded my head.

"Papa~!"

"Ahh, my adorable little Mito!" Minato stated as he reached for his daughter whose hands were outstretched towards him. "What is it? Did you miss daddy?"

The girl nodded her head rapidly before her face crinkled. "Daddy smells!"

Minato's face twitched before he smiled and handed her back to me.

I placed Mito in my shoulders a tried to sneak a peek behind Minato. "The project you've been working on…"

"Ahh, that." He said as he turned around and picked up the paper where his Fuuinjutsu formula was drawn. "It's based on the technique that the 2nd Hokage created. He destroyed almost all records of it after quickly realizing its frightening potential."

I raised a brow, "…and you decided to recreate it?"

"Yep!" He said, a sparkle in his eyes. "I had already completed a previous version of it about a year or so ago, which you already know as the **Flying Thunder God technique**." He stated as he took out a tri-pronged kunai on which, on the handle, there was a formula. "But this new technique is a derivative of that and is my own take of the 2nd Hokage's original formula." He concluded, picking up the paper with the new formula he had been working on.

I looked at it in speculation, "Well, what does it do?"

" **Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder**." Minato stated with a smile as he looked at his new technique blueprint. "It's a space-time barrier technique that is capable of warping away anything that comes into contact with it." Saying so, he placed down the papers, before looking at me, "On that note, how's your project been coming along?"

I showed him my right shoulder, "I completed it."

Minato looked at the Penrose triangle I had made my clone inscribe on my shoulder, "You already implanted it on your shoulder? And with such an interesting design choice…you know that that won't come off any time soon right?"

I inclined my head. Seals inscribed with chakra on a solid surface we're almost impossible to remove. It also depended on what kind of seal as well, for example, my **Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal** could actually be easily removed by Danzo if he so desired since it wasn't such an intricate or complex seal.

Regardless-

"…I think it's cool."

Minato gave me a wry smile, "Alright then. On that note though…" he began, stroking his chin and looking at my shoulder in interest, "What does it do? I know I told you to keep it to yourself so you don't have to tell me if you don't-"

"It can regrow lost body parts and heal basically anything, though I haven't even begun to test its limits so I don't know what they are."

"…"

"…"

"…I knew you should have kept it to yourself." Minato stated with a sigh. "I get the feeling you told my wife as well."

I nodded my head.

"And who else knows?"

I paused. "No one yet, but I plan on letting the Hokage know and so whoever he decides to tell. The only other person besides that who would know I created the technique would be one of my old comrades who kind of inspired me to make the technique."

Minato thought for a moment. "I suppose that's not too bad…" he shook his head, "Well I'm sure that you'll be fine anyway."

"Hn."

Minato smiled before suddenly remembering. "That's right!" He said as he opened some storage seals on his desk and with a _puff_ , took out an array of items. "Happy birthday!"

"…"

There was an ever-present smile on his face.

I raised a brow, "…Thanks for the water balloons and rubber balls…I guess…"

"Pfft." Minato stated as he chuckled uncontrollably.

"Yo~Ru, What's funny?" Mito asked at Minato's antics

"…Who knows."

Eventually, Minato stopped chuckling and looked at me. "Ahh, the look on your face…priceless." He stated, wiping away a tear. He then shook his head, "I guarantee that you'll genuinely thank me later, for these are going to be your training tools for a new technique I developed some time ago."

"Hmm?" I said looking at the items.

Minato grinned. "I already taught it to my teacher and Kakashi earlier and learning comes in three steps to eventually create the **Rasengan**." He stated, giving me a water balloon.

I looked at it intently.

"Now the technique requires **rotation** , **power** , and **containment** , and we'll work on them in that order." He stated as he watched me, Mito also watching my free hand intently. "First, you must spin your chakra in multiple directions at once. It took a week for Jiraiya and Kakashi to get this down correctly so don't worry if you don't-"

The water balloon burst.

"…done."

"Yo~Ru!" Mito stated as the water sprayed all over us.

Minato looked on blankly. "I see…" he then coughed and schooled his expression. Well it seems like you got this step down easily, you must be a natural, good job." He stated while continuously nodding his head.

"The next step?"

"Ahh right!" Minato stated as he gave me a rubber ball. "The next step is **power** and for this step, you have to increase the volume and density of the chakra you output. It took Jiraiya over a month and Kakashi even more so to get this part dow-"

The rubber ball exploded.

"…Done."

"Yo~Ruuu!" Mito stated as she covered her ears from the deafening sound.

"…"

Minato looked at the scraps of rubber around the floor absentmindedly.

"The final step?"

He snapped out of his daze and shakily reached for the regular air-filled balloon before handing it to me. "T-the final step is **c-containment**. Y-You have to combine the first two steps into a c-contained sphere and prevent the balloon from popping or moving. Jiraiya and Kakashi-"

That balloon remained still as I felt my chakra form into a contained sphere of rotational energy. The balloon did not even move an inch as I completed the technique.

Ping!

 **Congratulations! You have learned [Rasengan]!**

 **Rasengan (Active) Lvl 1 [50.00%]**

 **The Rasengan is a spinning ball of chakra formed and held in the palm of the user's hand and does not require hand seals to perform. It does, however, require extremely refined chakra control, something that very few ninjas naturally possess. Once it is formed, it also does not require any additional chakra to sustain it, which means that there is no definite limit to how long the Rasengan can be maintained.**

 **Range: Requires Physical Contact**

 **Damage: 100% ENGY**

 **Cost: 3000 CP**

It seemed as if Minato had regained his bearings as he gave me a light smile and patted my shoulder. "It's ok if you don't get it the first time Yoru, but I want you to at least try your best. We all learn from our failures you know."

I gave him an odd look. "…What are you talking about? I already completed the technique."

He froze, "…What?"

I gave Mito the unharmed balloon and she gladly took it. With my right hand now free, I combined all the lessons that Minato had taught me into one. My chakra began to spiral and come together before a small ball of energy was formed that rotated in all directions. The ball grew to size before it covered my entire palm and a little more. "…I'm all set."

Minato stood there, stock still as he looked at my **Rasengan**. I could feel him go through a variety of emotions before he hung his head as a cloud of depression encompassed him. "I-I'm going to get some air."

Saying so, the trudged out of his lair leaving me inside.

"Yo~Ru, why is Papa sad?"

"Who knows." I replied as I watched him leave. " _Well, Whatever…"_ I thought as I looked around his lair before my gaze landed upon his notes for the **Flying Thunder God Technique**. Now, between Fuuinjutsu experts there was an unspoken rule that you couldn't steal the original works of another master without his/her consent (or unless he/she was dead) especially if you were allies.

Didn't mean I couldn't use it as a reference.

With that, I quickly committed the information and notes Minato had on the **Flying Thunder God Technique** to memory. Even though Kushina strictly forbade me from going anywhere near spacetime techniques for very sound reasons, I got the strange feeling that I would need this in the future. It was a nagging feeling, so I decided to listen to it since the worst that could happen would be that it came to pass.

With that, I exited the shed and made sure to close it behind me before reentering Minato and Kushina's main house. As I entered the kitchen, across the hall I could see Kushina with her hands on her hips, looking up the stairwell in exasperation.

"Mi-na-to! Why are you acting like this?! First, you disappear into your shed for 2 days and when you finally come back, you disappear into your room. What is going on?!"

"I don't want to talk about it!"

Kushina's eyes twitched, "Now you listen here-!"

"Mama~!" Mito yelled.

Kushina faltered before her expression softened slightly as she turned towards us. "Mama's here." She stated as she walked forward and plucked Mito from my grasp, causing the little girl to giggle.

Kushina smiles before her expression turned annoyed. "What exactly is going on with that man?" She turned towards me with narrowed eyes, "You know something don't you?"

"…He was teaching me a new technique as a birthday present, but after I successfully learned it, he became like that."

"There's definitely more to it than that…" she stated as she looked at me skeptically before sighing. "Well whatever, have something to eat. I'll go bring my useless husband some food."

I nodded my head as Kushina created a clone and had it carry food before they disappeared upstairs. I watched them leave before turning my gaze towards the food and taking a bowl of steamed rice and nato before taking another bowl of miso soup. I added some grilled fish to my menu with some salad before setting them down on the table.

" _Thank you for the meal."_ I thought before digging in.

"… _Delicious."_

* * *

After a delicious meal at the Namikaze-Uzumaki household, I made my way towards the Hokage's Building after hopping across the rooftops of the village. In but a moment, I arrived at my destination and landed down on the floor in front of the building.

I flashed the two guards my identification as they looked towards me and they nodded their heads before stepping to the side, yet I noticed that their faces were slightly red.

I tilted my head at the oddity and stepped into the building before making my way up to the Hokage's Office before coming across the secretary.

She must have heard my footsteps as she began to talk without looking up from her desk work, "Welcome. If you are looking for an appointment with the Hokage, you will have to wait for a while. He is in a meeting right now."

"Is that so? I do have some important information for him though." I stated.

The lady sighed, "Listen here-" she began as she looked up from her papers, but she paused as she saw me and her face began to turn red.

I blinked, "Are you alright?"

"S-so cute…"

" _Ohh…"_ I thought. I had completely forgotten that I was actually this captivating without my face mask on.

The lady coughed, trying to regain some form of professionalism, yet her face remained red. "U-Umm, if what you say is true, t-then I suppose I can make an exception and let you in."

"…Thanks."

The lady nodded her head and bit her lips before standing up and opening the door. "P-please enter."

I nodded and entered the room, the secretary closing the door behind me. " _Weird indeed…"_ I thought before turning around and facing forwards.

It was then that I noticed that the conference room was quiet as the visions of the 4 occupants concentrated their gazes towards me. I saw the Hokage, Danzo, and two other individuals who seemed to be around their age.

"Ohh? Who's the adorable child Hiruzen? I thought no one else was supposed to be here but us."

The Hokage nodded, "True Hotaru, I had advised my secretary that we would be in a meeting for a while." Saying so he turned towards me before blinking, "Yoru?"

I nodded.

The Hokage's cheeks were ever so dusted red as he coughed into his hand. "Huh…you look different without your mask."

"…Thank you."

It was at this point that Danzo looked at me with his one eye, "What is your purpose here Squirrel?"

I looked at the two new faces for a while and the Hokage have understood my glance as he stated, "They are my advisers Koharu and Homura, Whatever you would have told me would be known to them one way or another."

"I see." I stated before glancing at the Hokage, "Lord Hokage, over the last few years I've been developing a new medical technique with my mastery of Fuuinjutsu."

"Oh?" Homura stated as he looked at me with interest, "A child at your age has mastery over such an abstruse form of Jutsu?" He strokes his beard, "In war, the most useful techniques are the most destructive, what is it about your technique that would require you to obtain an audience with the Hokage itself?"

As everyone looked at me, I replied, "I can use it to regenerate lost body parts and heal anyone to full health as long as they are still alive."

The air stilled.

"Are you serious?" The Hokage asked, his expression tainted in seriousness.

I nodded my head in affirmation.

"Mouse!" The Hokage yelled, causing multiple forms to drop down in front of him. "Soundproof the room and bring me a disabled shinobi. Make sure they can't see."

"Yes, Lord Hokage!" He stated before vanishing.

"Squirrel." Danzo stated as he looked at me with his one eye. "Have you perfected it?"

"I tested it this morning on a limbless animal in the forest of death and it worked to my specifications." I replied.

Koharu looked at me in interest, "Requirements? Side effects?"

"The main requirement would be for the user to have good enough chakra control; at least an 8.5/10 and must have high proficiency in the **Mystic Palm Technique**." I began before continuing, "As for the side effect…" I looked at the Hokage, "The seal absorbs Natural Energy to power the technique and so in the case of regenerating limbs or healing large wounds, some parts of the target's wounds will turn to stone depending on how bad the user's chakra control is."

"So that's why you say they need good enough chakra control…" Homura muttered before asking. "Can anyone learn it? Restrictions?"

I thought for a moment. "That depends on what you mean by 'learn'. If you are asking if anyone can create the technique I would have to say that it probably won't be possible unless they are especially in Fuuinjutsu as an and even then they would need intimate knowledge on natural energy and its functions with years of practice."

The man looked at me skeptically, "Then how did you create it?"

"I'm that good."

"…"

I continued. "If you are asking if anyone can 'use' the technique, then yes, so long as I plant the formula for the seal I created on their person. There are no restrictions otherwise, aside from the ones I talked about earlier."

As they ruminated my words, Mouse came back with an individual in hand. The Anbu carefully placed the man with short black hair on the ground in front of me. The man had a missing leg, but to make his situation more tragic, both his eyes were heavily scarred making it so that he could not see.

The Hokage looked at Mouse oddly, "…When I asked that you bring me a shinobi that couldn't see, I expected you to blindfold them not search for a shinobi who was blind. If their eyes are healed, then what's the point of trying to keep my asset's identity safe?"

Mouse shuffled, "U-Um…Sorry!" He said with a bow.

Hiruzen waved him off. "Don't mind it, good work."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage!" He yelled before exiting the area.

The Hokage looked forward towards the man who had been kneeling on the ground in silence. "Tell me, what is your name?"

The man moved his head towards the Hokage from the sound of his voice. "Imagaki Uchiha, an anagram of my ancestor's name, Kagami Uchiha, Lord Hokage."

The old man nodded his head. "Tell me, if you were to gain your legs and your sight back, what would you do?"

I could sense some form of very vague hope filling the man before it disappeared as he immediately replied, "If by some chance I was to regain my ability to walk and see, I would…" he looked up to the Hokage, "My Body was lost for this village, I would continue to serve it till I died."

"Good answer!" The Hokage stated before continuing, "Then, how would you like to regain the full functionality of your body?"

Hope once more filled the man and he pressed his head to the ground, "I will serve this village for the rest of my life!"

The Hokage smiled before looking towards me and nodding his head.

I walked towards the man before placing my hands on the man's back and activating my **Mystical Healing** ability. The natural energy was gathered and filtered by the **Natural Healing** seal before being used to augment my **Mystic Palm Technique**.

My hands glowed a dark green color as the wounds on the man's body began to heal. First starting with his eyes, the damaged tissue fell off before fresh new skin formed on his eyelids.

"H-his eyes!" Koharu stated in wonder as the man's eyeballs began to reform.

I imagine that they started off as small nuggets before growing and eventually stopping after they grew to normal size eyeballs.

"His leg too…" Homura stated as he looked on in fascination.

The Uchiha's stump first split open causing the man to grunt and blood to flow out, but no sooner did the limb begin to reform. First, it slowly grew out new bones which grew in size until they became as large as an adult leg. Next, was the muscle that wrapped around the bone and became knit together tightly. Finally, skin reformed on the leg providing the Uchiha with a completely regrown limb.

Not only that, the leg skin was smooth and without blemish as if it was a newborn's. Furthermore, all the skin on the man's body seemed to glow as the dead skin fell and fresh skin regrew.

The man shakily stood up before inspecting his hands. "I can see!" He then began to move his legs "And my legs…!"

"Fascinating." Danzo stated as he inspected the man before asking, "How do you feel?"

The man froze as he looked around, noting the vision of the 4 people in front of him before he stood in a respectful manner. "My mobility has returned and so has my vision, furthermore-"

I couldn't see what he had done as I stood behind him, but Danzo supplied me with an answer, "Your Sharingan."

"Yes, my eyes are almost as good…no, even a little better than before." With that, he bowed deeply. "Thank you, elders, for restoring this lowly one's ability to walk and see. I promise I will serve this village for the rest of my days."

"Stand." The Hokage stated, "We are not the ones you should be bowing to."

"I know, however without your instruction I would still be in the hospital, wasting my days away." Saying so he offered another short bow. "I will not turn as to not compromise your identity, but I sincerely thank you for healing me."

I nodded my head and patted his back. If I spoke, he would easily figure that I was a child and while there were only about 18 people in this world who truly knew about my existence, it would be best to keep it that way.

"You are free to go, however-" Hiruzen began, a sharp glint in his eyes. "What happened here today is classified as an S-rank secret. If someone were to ask how you fully recovered, you are at most to reply that it was a newly developed experimental ninjutsu. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage." The man stated before bowing once more.

Hiruzen nodded. "Mouse, escort Imagaki back."

The Anbu with the mouse mask dropped down and nodded before placing a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder and vanishing from view.

"Yoru." The Hokage stated causing me to stand at attention. "For now I want you to keep that ability a secret for a while. I want you to demonstrate it to a few individuals so that they can appraise it."

"Alright, Lord Hokage."

He nodded, "Good, you are dismissed."

And so, with a short bow, I left the room.

* * *

 _3rd Person POV_

* * *

Koharu waited until Yoru left the room before commenting. "What an interesting child. I'm quite interested to know about his origin."

Seeing Homura nod in agreement, Danzo explained. "From what I know, he is an orphan who was scouted by one of my previously inactive shinobi at the time. He showed high intellect and an incredible aptitude for chakra manipulation."

Homura raised a brow, "Is that all?"

Danzo paused at the question.

Seeing this the Hokage asked, "Danzo?"

The man in question closed his lone eye as he seemed to figure out how to explain before stating. "5 years ago, on this exact day, one of our shinobi returned to the village with a child in hand who seemed to be about 3 years of age. She had unfortunately lost her team and was badly injured, so she had decided to leave the child in one of our Orphanages in order to grieve and heal."

He paused before continuing. "Around that time I had approached her with the option of serving her village by using her exceptional sensory capabilities to protect our borders. She accepted but decided to work in the Orphanage where she had left the child as she felt marginally responsible for him, however, she began to realize something was wrong as he could not walk, talk, or do anything on his own. The child was like a blank slate that could only perform reflexive actions that even infants could perform such as breathing, blinking, sucking, among others."

Hiruzen put on a thoughtful expression. "Odd. Where exactly had she found him if I may ask?"

"Near the outskirts of the village, alone, with only leaves as covering. At least that was what I was told." Danzo answered. "There was nothing discernible about him save for his skin color and white hair possibly indicating a connection to someone in Kumo, but even then we couldn't be sure."

"Hmm." Koharu began with a thoughtful look. "a child like that would have been thought to have some sort of terrible illness. You wouldn't expect them to live for long especially on their own."

"That's precisely what the doctors had believed when they checked him, but he turned out fine. With about a year, that same shinobi who had brought him to the village was able to teach him how to read, walk and talk, strangely enough, though, he seems to have no recollection of that time according to her." Danzo supplied.

"Interesting…very interesting." Homura stated before chuckling. "Well, while he seems to have no past, he definitely has a future with his intelligence."

The Hokage nodded, "That's true. I look forward to what he will do in the future."

With everyone giving murmurs of agreement, Hiruzen continued with a serious expression. "Now then, let's get back to the other topic at hand." Saying so caused the air in the room to intensify. "Tell me Danzo, are your sources truly accurate?"

The man inclined his head. "I cross-checked with Jiraiya's intelligence network and there's no doubt."

"So it's come to this huh?" Hiruzen stated calmly.

Danzo nodded.

"Iwagakure is going to move its Jinchuuriki."

* * *

 **Why does Yoru not pull a Kirin or have the 2nd Hokage's skill in water manipulation? Well, he just got his water manipulation to 100% only a couple weeks prior to fighting Shiranami and Kirin has less to do with affinity and more to do with the environment. Yoru can also draw water from the atmosphere, but he's no where as good at it as the 2nd Hokage and it would make no sense for Yoru to be as skilled as Tobirma when he's much, much, much weaker than him.**

 **I'll concede planet level but im trying not to scale toon high or the stats in my story will be too immense lol.**

 **Thanks for reading. Don't forget to review!**


	14. Chapter 14

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out...

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Author's Note: Changed the title of the story a little to make it more accurate (and easier for others to find...)**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

I sat down on the ground shirtless as I stayed still and focused my breathing. Visible on my upper body and hidden within my pants, on my skin were a variety of intersecting lines of symbols that ran from my shoulders to my arms down to my torso, behind my back, and down to my legs.

This was a full body restriction seal.

I had begun using this for my training due to the fact that the paper tag versions of this seal were not enough to increase my physical strength anymore. Using a shadow clone, I had made it inscribe this seal all over my body, but I added my own little twist to it.

For one thing, unlike most seals that could be inscribed on a solid surface, I could make this seal visible and invisible according to my will and it would show when I was activating it. This was also due to the fact that **Restriction Seals** were relatively simple seals compared to my **Natural Energy** seal and Minato's **Thunder God Technique** formula, so they were easier to change and remove.

The full body restriction seal that I had created had many levels to it, each level causing my movements to be restricted by a factor of 2. For example, level 1 caused me to exert 2x more force to move my body (21). Level 2 needed me to exert 4x more force to move my body (22). Level 3 caused me to exert 8x more force to move my body (23) and so on and so forth.

Currently, I was using level 10 of the seal which forcefully restricted my movements to 1/1024 of their normal amount and cost me 1024 CP per minute to maintain but with my regeneration rate as high as it was, I could easily maintain this indefinitely.

Thinking along those lines, I stood up before positioning my body in a handstand and doing handstand push-ups. Ever since I had completed my **Natural Healing** seal a few months ago, I had decided to dedicate my time to training up my body as much as possible. It was important that I grind my stats as often as I could and while I could use clones to help practice my **WIS** and **INT** , and in some cases **ENGY** , they couldn't help me with my physical stats.

For the most part, I spent my day's training, going to the occasional mission, hanging out at Minato's place and hanging out with my teacher since she lived next door. Aside from that, I had been grinding up my elemental affinities with my clones on a daily basis and as a matter of fact, I was almost done with them.

"… _99…100…"_ I thought as I finished my last rep and pushed myself off the ground before flipping and sticking the landing. There was light perspiration on my face, but it was exactly the type of effect I had been hoping for in my training. With my movements forcefully restricted by 1024x, every movement was that much more taxing.

I rotated my shoulders a little bit before looking ahead of me where there was a large cliff towering upwards. I jumped from my position and landed on the side of the cliff, using my chakra to keep me adheres to the surface. With my movements still restricted, I began to walk up the cliff with nothing but my legs.

"… _Not enough."_ I thought, increasing my resistance to 11. Immediately, my body halted its advance as I strained to move forward. My movements were now forcefully restricted to 1/2048x their usual amount and my legs were feeling every moment of that in addition to the force of gravity. I pushed myself a little more and began to make a slow and arduous advance up the cliff.

After what felt like hours, I finally made it to the top of the cliff and collapsed on the ground.

"… _tired…"_ I thought as I had been working out for the better part of this morning.

Ping!

* * *

 **Congratulations! [Natural Wind Affinity] has leveled up by 1!**

 **Congratulations! [Natural Wind Affinity] has reached level 100 MAX!**

 **Congratulations! [Chakra Control (CC)] has increased to 98%!**

 **Congratulations! [Natural Fire Affinity] has leveled up by 1!**

 **Congratulations! [Natural Fire Affinity] has reached level 100 MAX!**

 **Congratulations! [Chakra Control (CC)] has increased to 99%!**

 **Congratulations! [Natural Earth Affinity] has leveled up by 1!**

 **Congratulations! [Natural Earth Affinity] has reached level 100 MAX!**

 **Congratulations! [Chakra Control (CC)] has increased to 100%!**

* * *

" _Finally done…"_ I thought as I stood up, the exhaustion leaving me as the messages appeared and my clones dispelled. With this, I now had complete 100% control over my chakra and I practiced this by raising my hand and willing a small ball of flame into existence. On my other hand, I formed a small sphere of wind and combined it with the fire causing the flame to gain a bluish hue.

I slightly smiled and dispelled the elements before thinking about what else I could do. If I wanted to, I could probably combine and with my perfect control, I could probably find a way to create a "faux" Elemental Kekkei Genkai. A theory I had read on elemental Kekkei Genkai stated that people born with these types of bloodlines were naturally able to mix their chakra natures in the perfect ratio of elements necessary to form a Kekkei Genkai.

For example, say **Scorch Release** required an exact 1.75:1 ratio of Fire and Wind elemental affinities. A person born with it would be able to naturally combine their chakra at that perfect ratio the entire way through molding their chakra for the technique and executing it.

If one wanted to recreate **Scorch Release** through their own abilities, then they would need perfect control over their chakra in addition to extremely high proficiency in fire and wind natures and would need to be able to maintain that 1.75:1 ratio of Fire to Wind the entire way through executing the technique.

I found that it was a very sound theory and I planned on testing it soon enough, however for now…"You can come out. I'm done training."

Immediately, an Anbu member with a mouse mask appeared in front of me. "Lord Hokage and Lord Danzo are requesting your presence."

I nodded my head. "Lead the way."

Immediately he leaped from his position and made his way back towards the village. I followed his movements as we dashed towards the trees before we arrived in the busy streets of the village. He took me to the Hokage's Residence through one of the many secret entrances around the village and we walked down a corridor before eventually arriving in front of a door.

"They're waiting inside."

I nodded my head, feeling 5 powerful chakra signatures and 1 weaker one that felt very familiar. " _Could that be…"_

I approached and unlocked the door before entering inside and feeling 5 visions concentrated on my skin.

"Huh? I thought you called us here for something important old man. What's a child doing here? Though he's quite adorable..." A blonde woman with a sizeable bust asked the Hokage as she looked at me, her arms crossed under her massive bust.

 **[Tsunade Senju]**

 **Lvl 127**

 **Rep: 0**

The pale man with yellow slitted eyes next to her followed. "I would like to know as well, I was forced to stop my experiments for this Teacher."

 **[Orochimaru]**

 **Lvl 147**

 **Rep: 0**

Finally, the man with long white hair in between the two looked at my bare face carefully with narrowed eyes. "Wait…I've seen you before haven't I?"

 **[Jiraiya]**

 **Lvl 139**

 **Rep: 15**

The Hokage took this moment to intervene. "Yes Jiraiya, he was the one you reported to me about almost a year ago on that mission to Tsuchigumo."

Jiraiya bopped his palm with his fist, "Ah that's right! I remember that kid!" Saying so he looked me over once more before frowning, "Tch, I can't believe he looks more handsome than me without his mask on…" he suddenly appeared next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder before giving me a bright smile, "say kid, why don't you be my wingman one of these days when I decide to go out? How about it? You interested?" The Sannin asked with a wiggling of his brows.

Before I could answer him, however, Hiruzen stepped in, "Jiraiya, you can continue your antics at a later date, but for now I need you to focus. Why I called you here today is directly related to him."

I could sense the interest rise in the eyes of the three Sannin before Tsunade scoffed. "This kid? He can't be more than what 7? 8?-"

"…I'm 8 and a half actually."

I was ignored.

"What exactly could he have done to warrant all of our attention? Are you sure you aren't just blowing things out of proportion?"

I looked at Hiruzen and Danzo. "…you didn't tell them?"

"No." Hiruzen stated with a shake of his head. "I figured that it would be best for them to see it first hand than to explain it in words."

"Exactly what are we here to witness Sarutobi-sensei?" Orochimaru asked as he turned to his teacher.

"Just watch." Saying so, the Hokage made a hand sea. I saw that around the bed of my would be patient, seals glowed to life before vanishing.

" _Silencing seals…"_ I thought before focusing on the figure of the bed and blinking my eyes. " _It really is…"_

"Four years ago." Hiruzen began while looking at the man in the bed. "This soldier lost his arm at the beginning of the war and his stump has since then been sealed. I want you to watch carefully. Continue Yoru."

I nodded my head and approached the bed before placing my hands on the man's back. " _Shark…I said I would give you back your arm one day…"_ I thought as I activated my **Mystical Healing**. My hands glowed a dark green, a sharp contrast to the bright green of the typical Mystic Palm technique, before Shark's arm began to regrow. The stump was forcefully torn open before new bone, muscle, nerves, and skin formed into a full adult hand.

"That's…!" Tsunade stated with wide eyes as she let her arms fall to the side.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at me. "Very fascinating indeed…"

"You've got to be kidding me…" Jiraiya stated out loud in wonder. "Was that…Natural energy?"

Hiruzen nodded. "What are your thoughts on it Jiraiya?"

The white-haired man put on a thoughtful look, "I will have to ask the toads about this real quick. They'll be able to give more insight into this than me, so we will need another individual."

"That can be easily arranged." Danzo stated

As the grown-ups began to talk amongst themselves, I turned my gaze towards Shark.

"Heh, I didn't think you would actually be able to pull through kid…4 years…" The man stated, yet didn't bother to turn around.

"…You figured that out quickly. It makes me wonder if there was even a point to putting up silencing seals and giving you a blindfold." I replied.

Shark chuckled, "They didn't know that you had made that promise to me all those years ago." Saying so, he shook his head. "I had been a bit skeptical when I had approached with the prospect of getting my arm back. I had thought 'could it be? That kid came through?' But to actually get it back…" he gripped his newly reformed limb. "I can't thank you enough."

I nodded my head. "No worries."

"Sameki." Hiruzen stated, looking at Shark, "You are free to go, but do not spread information about this technique is that understood?"

"Of course Lord Hokage." The man said with a bow.

The Hokage nodded before yelling. "Mouse!"

The man instantly appeared in front of the Hokage.

"Escort him and obtain another individual with a lost limb. Make sure they can't see and this time, don't just bring someone blind."

The Anbu shuffled awkwardly before bowing, "Of course Lord Hokage." And with that, he vanished.

"Tell me kid." Jiraiya began. "How exactly did you pull that off? To absorb natural energy without turning into a Sage or stone and to regrow limbs?" He stroked his chin. "You're pretty incredible for someone so young…almost reminds me of Minato."

I turned my body and pulled up my sleeve, showcasing the design of my seal on my right shoulder. "…I created a seal to manage the absorption and output of natural energy to the traditional **Mystic Palm Technique** in order to create a more powerful Healing ability." Saying so, I looked towards Jiraiya, "It was thanks to your research on natural energy and Minato's help that I was able to complete this."

"Ohh? So you're the kid he's been crying to me about." Jiraiya stated as he rubbed his chin and looked me up and down with a smile. "You know, he's still upset that you mastered his technique in only a few minutes, but I have to say even I'm kind of jealous…" he then turned to look at my tattoo appraisingly. "How long did it take you to make it?"

"Around 3 years." Was my honest reply.

Jiraiya blinked. "Wow, and I thought Minato was a prodigy."

"Tell me, how does this seal work on a biological level." Orochimaru asked with a gleam in his eyes. "I find it fascinating that you can regrow a complete appendage even from a closed wound. How exactly does that work?"

I put in a thoughtful expression. I had a relatively good amount of knowledge on biology, mainly on how chakra influenced it. That being said, if he was asking for a completely in-depth process about what the natural energy + Mystic Healing combo was doing at a cellular level…"I'm actually not sure…"

Orochimaru gave me a smile that made me marginally uncomfortable. "Well then, if you come to my lab, I'm sure we will find out plenty."

Jiraiya gave Orochimaru a weird look, "Creepy…"

A tick mark grew on the pale Sannin's head, "I'm only curious as a scientist. What's truly creepy is your perverted antics and unhinged behavior. It's truly a wonder that you haven't created a village yet with your promiscuity."

"My antics are not merely perverted!" Jiraiya said, his eyes closed as he blew smoke from his nose, "They are Super Perverted!" He struck a pose in triumph.

"…How have you not been castrated by an enemy kunoichi by now?"

Jiraiya replied smugly, "Because after a night with me, why would any woman be my enemy?"

Orochimaru's face twitched, "Please tell me you did not do that on purpose?

"What do you think?" The white-haired man replied with wiggling brows.

"I am truly surprised that your face hasn't been buried in the wall by now."

That got them to pause.

"Princess?" Jiraiya stated as he looked at Tsunade. "What's wrong?"

It was now that I realized that the blond haired woman had been oddly silent ever since I had demonstrated my technique.

Tsunade looked at me, more specifically my shoulder, before biting her lower lip. "If only…if only at that time we had this, then maybe…" She clenched her necklace tightly.

And with that, the atmosphere became sullen.

" _Isn't she a ray of sunshine…"_ I thought before looking to my right as Mouse suddenly appeared inside the room with another limbless shinobi in hand.

This one had no legs.

"Jiraiya." The Hokage stated.

The man in question out in a serious expression on his face as he bit his thumb and drew blood before placing his palm on the ground. I could sense an immense amount of chakra being used for the technique as he yelled, "Kuchiyose!"

In a puff of smoke, a small toad appeared. "What's wrong Jiraiya boy? Summoning me on such short notice? Ma is preparing lunch right now and if I miss it, I won't hear the end of it."

"Please pay attention Elder Fukasaku. I've got something interesting to show you." Jiraiya replied, nodding his head towards my direction.

The toad in question look gave me a speculative look. "This boy?" The toad then nodded and jumped up on Jiraiya's shoulder. "Alright then, let me see it."

The Hokage nodded my way so I once again placing ed my hands on the legless shinobi's back and activated my skill. In but a few moments, his legs began to regrow until they reached a maturation proportional to his age.

"Incredible…" The toad stated, looking at my arms. "Fusing Natural Energy to a technique the moment it is executed and without fusing the Natural energy into your chakra system…" the frog nodded his head in thought.

"So what do you think?" Jiraiya asked.

"Well…" The toad began. "It's a splendid technique and seeing as he isn't directly absorbing the natural energy or directly transferring it to another individual, I'd say it's pretty safe and obviously more than effective."

Jiraiya nodded. "I see, thank you Elder Fukasaku."

"Ah, no problem Jiraiya boy. By the way…" the toad began, looking towards my way. "You've given me some things to think about young one. I hope to see you again."

I inclined my head in response.

The toad then smiled. "Well I'm off, if I don't get back in time Ma will throw a fit." And with that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Jiraiya smiled. "Well kid, it seems like your technique is well regarded even amongst the masters of Sage energy. I suppose now we can-"

"What are its restrictions?" Tsunade asked seriously, cutting Jiraiya off. "Any side effects? What about the conditions of the people you have treated? Have we checked up on them to see how they are coping with their new limb? Who can learn this technique?"

I blinked. "The only restrictions are that only I can inscribe the seal for the technique, the user must be proficient in the **Mystic Palm** Healing technique, and the user must have satisfactory chakra control. As for the people I've already healed…" I looked towards the Hokage and Danzo.

"They are performing well." Danzo stated. "The only issue is that the individuals who had lost their limbs longer ago tend to take longer to re-adjust to their new appendage. Aside from that, there has been no sign of rejection or terrible performance from their new limb."

"That's fine then, but make sure to keep an eye on them." Saying so, she looked towards Hiruzen. "I wish you would have told me what exactly had been so important as to need my presence. If so, I would have been here much sooner."

Hiruzen looked at her with a slight smile. "Well, I'm glad you're here now instead of drinking your sorrows away."

Tsunade paused and turned away causing Hiruzen to smile even more. I could sense the love and care he showed for not only Tsunade but for his other two students as well.

" _Isn't that adorable…"_

"And you." The blonde Sannin stated looking at me.

I blinked. "…yes?"

She looked at my shoulder. "Say you were to lose your arm where you implanted the seal, what would then happen?"

"Well…" I began. "This seal is intimately connected to your own chakra network so as long as you don't die, this seal will technically never fade even if the limb it is attached to is destroyed. As a matter of fact…" I stated, pointing at my right shoulder where my seal was on. "You could regrow that lost limb and it should still have the seal on it."

Tsunade nodded in understanding, "and does it necessarily have to look like that?" She asked, pointing at my Penrose triangle design.

"…Not necessarily." I said, looking at my shoulder. "…I can adjust it to whatever design choice you want."

"Alrighty then." She stated, pointing at her forehead, more specifically the diamond pattern on her forehead. "Can you superimpose it on this?"

I nodded my head and walked forward before placing my palm on her forehead. I used my chakra to form the necessary inscription for the technique but condensed it to the shape of a diamond. With that complete, I let go of her forehead and noted that the blue diamond pattern on her forehead has turned green.

"I see…" Orochimaru stated in interest. "With the combination of this technique and your **Creation Rebirth,** …you'll be practically immortal on the battlefield."

"Exactly." Tsunade stayed with a smile as she gripped her fists.

I could sense an intense conviction from her, one that stated that she would never let something terrible happen again.

"But you know Tsunade…" Orochimaru began with a disconcerting smile. "A child 24 years your junior created a more impressive medical technique than you could not in your 32 years of life?"

The joy on Tsunade's face vanished.

" _Ohh that's bad…"_ I thought and stealthily made my way next to Hiruzen and Danzo.

"Oi oi you bastard!" Jiraiya stated towards Orochimaru. "That's such a dirty blow!"

"But is it not true?"

"…That may be so but don't say it!"

Orochimaru slightly shrugged. "I'm only saying that if she hadn't decided to waste more than half a decade of her miserable life in self-deprecation, maybe she would have accomplished m-"

Immediately, Orochimaru leaned back, just in time to evade a devastating punch from Tsunade. The force of the attack generated wind pressure so strong that it blew a gigantic hole through the solid 12' reinforced steel walls of the room 10 feet away and continued onwards down the hall.

Orochimaru chuckled and jump backward, Tsunade glaring at him with a vein popping on her head.

"Alright enough." Hiruzen stated before the atmosphere turned any more hostile. "…And Yoru please come out from behind me."

I did as instructed and acted as if nothing had ever happened. "Yes Lord Hokage?"

The older man sighed. "In any case…" he began while looking at Tsunade. "I want you to screen Medic Nin with enough skill to use this technique. I can't have one of my soldiers turning to stone on accident."

Tsunade tilted her head. "Turning to stone?"

So I explained. "…depending on the level of your chakra control, the regrown appendages might have some parts that have undergone Petrification and turned to stone. The worse the user's chakra control, the more the parts of the regrown limb become petrified."

"Wait, then what about the people you healed before?" Tsunade asked.

"My chakra control is perfect." Was all I replied.

Tsunade looked at me startled. "Wait What?"

"We can have this discussion another time." Hiruzen stated before looking my way. "Before that, however, there is an important issue that needs to be considered. It's inevitable that we will be unable to hide this technique for long and it will eventually be known to the other nations. If the enemy tries to get ahold of someone who knows it…"

The rest didn't need to be said.

If the enemy was able to kidnap a medic-nin who had my seal, then if they weren't being tortured to death, they would be used against us.

I thought for a moment before I replied, "I can make adjustments to the seal and put a kill switch that can be activated by chakra." That was the best method I could think of. If the enemy wanted to use our medic-nin who had my seal, then they would have to allow them to use their chakra. That would give them the opportunity to off themselves if necessary which was way better than being tortured or raped.

At least you would go out on your own terms.

Even if they wanted to study my seal, without insight into natural energy and a high degree of fuuinjutsu affinity, it was pretty much pointless.

The Hokage nodded slightly, likely thinking along the same lines as he replied, "That will most likely be for the best. With that aside, I'll have you give the seal to anyone Tsunade deems appropriate. Anyone have anything else to say?"

"Your seal." Jiraiya began. "Can it be taught to others? It's a pretty fascinating piece of work and I would love to take a look at it."

"As long as they are highly skilled in Fuuinjutsu, then they should be able to, though it will require knowledge in other areas most notably human biology." I supplied

Jiraiya grinned, "I'll take you up on that then."

I inclined my head before turning towards Danzo. I looked at his bandaged arm which was hidden within his black robe and at the right side of his face which was bandaged as well. "Lord Danzo, if you like, I could heal you of your debilitating injuries."

Danzo looked at us for a moment and remained silent as he began to unwrap the bandages covering the right side of his body. The bandages unfurled and fell to the ground revealing what was hidden beneath.

Silence.

Jiraiya gaped.

Orochimaru looked amused.

Tsunade frowned in mild annoyance.

Hiruzen simply looked on with a knowing smile.

"There's…Nothing." I stated as I gazed at the plain, bare, completely healthy and undamaged skin covering Danzo's body.

"Misdirection." Danzo explained simply, a very mild, nearly unnoticeable, tinge of amusement in his tone. "Always look underneath the underneath." He said while rewrapping himself.

I was slightly speechless.

Imagine if an enemy tried to attack Danzo thinking he was a fragile disabled man only to get blindsided when Danzo suddenly slit his throat with his "disabled" hand…

I then looks to his bandages right eye. "Then…"

"I'm not getting any younger." Danzo began. "The amount of times I'll ever be called into action will be few and far inbetween while you all will soon take over for the older generation. There's no need to worry about an inconvenience as minor as this."

Hiruzen looked at his friend and gave a slight smirk before looking at all of us. "If that is all, then you are all dismissed. Mouse!"

"Yes Lord Hokage." The man said, dropping down from the ceiling.

Hiruzen looked towards the Ninja I had healed. "Take him away."

"Yes!" The man said and vanished with the individual.

"As for the rest of you…" he stated, looking at his students. "Yoru's identity should not be compromised is that understood?"

"Yes!" They yelled in unison.

"Good." He said before turning around and looking at the hole in the wall. "…Danzo, please get someone to fix that."

At the man's nod, Hiruzen looked back at me. "You've done more for this village than I could have ever expected from a child your age. For that, you have my gratitude."

I bowed, "Thank you Lord Hokage."

Hiruzen nodded before glancing at the hole in the wall once more, shaking his head, and vanishing.

Danzo looked at me deeply before giving us a nod and vanishing as well.

"Child." Orochimaru stayed as he looked my way. "I'm quite interested in that technique of yours. You wouldn't mind allowing me to possess one of your magnificent inscriptions would you?"

"You dirty snake." Tsunade snarled with her arms on her waist. "If you weren't paying attention, I am in charge of screening the medical ninja deserving of that ability and I say no."

"But it's not really yours to give now is it princess?" Orochimaru asked, a smile on his face. "Besides, my control, while not as perfect as yours, is quite excellent and I can use it in a lot of my experiments." Here, his grin grew savage, "Some of them tend to have a short…shelf life so to speak."

"Hmph." The blond woman began, crossing her arms under her massive bust. "I said no."

"Well that's not your decision is it?" Saying so, Orochimaru looked at me with that same smile.

"You better not give him a thing." Tsunade stated, her eyes seemingly boring holes through mine.

I looked towards Jiraiya who sighed. "Princess come on don't be petty. The snake bastard maybe be the most unpleasant, repulsive, obnoxious-"

Orochimaru: "…I still exist."

"-Piece of work, but he has a point. Let the kid do whatever…I kind of want it as well…"

Tsunade bit her lip while angrily tapping her finger against her arm before she acquiesced, "Tch, fine do whatever you want."

I raised a brow at that before looking towards Orochimaru. "…I don't particularly care, however, in return I want 2 things from you."

The pale skinned man gave me that patented wide grin, "As long as it is within my abilities…"

I nodded and took a kunai before slitting my wrist. From my inventory, I took out a small cup and collected the blood before my healing factor sealed the wound shut.

"…Fascinating." Orochimaru stated as he looked at my wrist. "Such powerful regenerative capacity."

"…Yeah, and I need you to do a test on whatever is in my blood and compile data on it." I stated.

With an eager look, Orochimaru took the cup, "And your other request?"

"I'll let you know when the time comes."

"That works splendidly." The slitted eyed man replied. "If you are ever interested in helping me with my research, do let me know."

While he mildly disturbed me, I nodded nonetheless. "…I'll keep that in mind." Saying so I walked up to him and gripped his wrist before implanting my seal on it in the shape of a simple circle.

Orochimaru looked at it in wonder before glancing back at me with an unsettling smile, Orochimaru vanished.

"To be honest, I think he would have done you a favor just for your blood…" Jiraiya commented with a smile before his eyes widened and he whipped his head towards Tsunade. "Princess?"

I blinked at his sudden response and turned towards her as well, noting that her body was shaking as she stared at the floor.

At my blood.

"I-I'm ok…" she stated before taking a step back and shaking her head. "In any case, good riddance." Tsunade said as she looked in the direction that Orochimaru left before looking my way. She seemed to struggle to say something before sending a nod of acknowledgment my way. "I doubted you earlier kid so I apologize and…thank you."

Before even waiting for my reply, she too vanished.

I looked at the place she disappeared from with mild confusion. "Was she afraid of my blood? As a medic-nin?"

The white-haired Sannin scratched his head with a sigh before shaking it. "She's been through some rough shit over the years." Saying so, he shook his head once more before asking, "Anyway, about your technique…"

I took out the scrolls I had written my notes on from my inventory and handed it over to him. "That's the process I went through to create it. It'll help if you have good knowledge of chakra theory, the human body, and the traditional **Mystic Palm Technique**."

Jiraiya smiled as he took them, "No worries kid, I'm the great Jiraiya-sama. Something like this won't take me too long to figure out." Immediately, he continued, "Well I got to go do my own thing." Jiraiya stated before looking my way and smiling. "Later kiddo." And he vanished as well, leaving me here in this bunker alone with a hole in the wall.

"…"

* * *

I approached the gates to the Uchiha clan at the edge of the village and walked up to the two front guards who were keeping watch. They suddenly became alert at the sound of my footsteps before relaxing slightly as they saw me approach.

"Halt kid! State your purpose for being here." One of the shinobi on watch stayed.

The other guard looked at me carefully before smiling slightly and patting his colleague on the shoulder. "Relax Genta, this is the kid I talked to you about before, Itachi young Master's friend."

"Eh? Seriously?" Genta replied looking me up and down curiously. "You're telling me he's the one that could keep up with Itachi despite them being of similar age?"

"That's right." The other guard said with a smile before looking at me and waving my way. "Yo Yoru, What brings you here at this time?"

"…Haruki." I stated, looking at the guard. "nothing really, I'm simply here because I have nothing else to do."

"I'm so envious." The man said with a sigh. "I feel like every day I'm wasting away being here. Even my last partner got to do something else."

"I see…" I replied before asking. "Can I come in…?"

"Ah, that's right!" Haruki responded before stepping aside and opening the gate. "Please come in."

I nodded to the two guards and entered the Uchiha residential area before making my way towards Itachi's place. I received some nods here and there from the few people that recognized me since I had been here a few times in the past.

In but a few moments, I arrived at the Uchiha Clan Head's residence and admired it large size for a moment before knocking on the door.

"Coming!" A voice yelled from inside before the door was opened giving view to a beautiful black-haired woman with onyx eyes. "Ah! Yoru? I didn't know you would be here today."

" _She's so pretty…"_

I nodded my head. "I apologize for my intrusion Mrs. Uchiha."

"No no, don't worry about it." She said with a smile before ushering me inside. "Why don't you come in?"

So I nodded my head and followed her inside before asking. "Is Itachi home?"

She put on a thoughtful expression. "…Last I remember he said he was going out back to train-"

Before she could finish that sentence, the sound of a baby's cries echoed out through the building.

"Oh…" Mikoto stated, looking towards the living room. "It seems like Sasuke's woken up." She then turned back towards me and gave me an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry I can't entertain you any longer, but feel free to look out back."

"Thank you."

She nodded with a smile before heading towards the sounds of Sasuke's cries. "Don't cry! Mommy's coming."

I watched as she disappeared before heading towards the back door of the home. I exited it and admired the largely forested scenery before closing my eyes and focusing my enhanced senses outwards.

I listened for the sound of Kunai impacting wood before making my way towards that direction. As I came closer towards my destination, I could hear the sound of Itachi's exertion and eventually saw his figure in front of me.

His body was covered in sweat yet his gaze remained unwatered as he gripped his kunai before jumping up and tossing them together. At the mid-point of their flight, the projectiles collided against each and ricocheted directly into the bullseye of two opposite target.

Itachi landed on the ground and paused for a moment before throwing a kunai at my direction.

I caught it between my fingers and walked out of the tree lines into the clearing. "…That wasn't nice."

Itachi blinked. "Yoru…"

"Yo." I replied before twirling the weapon between my fingers before tossing the kunai up into the air.

Itachi smiled and tossed his kunai towards mine at a precise angle where they ricocheted and became lodged into the centers of two other targets opposite each other.

"What are you doing here at this time?" Itachi asked as he sat on the ground. "Isn't it quite early for you?"

"I finished my training early." I stated as I sat down next to him. "…Plus I just got out of something important so I'm not really in the mood to go do anything else."

"I see…" Itachi stated before looking up in the sky.

We stayed in silence for a while as we typically did when we hung out. We sometimes trained together but due to my missions as an Anbu member, there wasn't much opportunity for me to relax, so typically I did that when I came here. Besides, this place had a decent view of the clouds.

After a while, Itachi, still looking up at the clouds asked, "… hey Yoru?"

"Hmm?" I replied, laying on the ground, my gaze focused above.

He looked at me. "Do…" he paused and thought for a moment before continuing. "Do you believe that world peace is…attainable?"

"Attainable…?" I stated before my eyes became half-lidded. "…With the current state of this screwed up place, I can't say that I have much faith in humanity to accomplish that."

"Is that so…" Itachi stated, looking back up to the clouds. "…So many people die each day from the war and I've already been sent out to the front lines…" he gripped his fists. "I don't want my brother to grow up in this kind of world or to stain his hands as a child. He shouldn't have to do that…" he paused and looked down towards his hands. "…no one should."

"Hmmm…" I stated, looking at Itachi before looking back up towards the clouds. "…If you're so passionate, then do something about it."

Itachi widened his eyes and turned his head towards me. "…me?"

"Something like world peace isn't going to happen on its own." I replied. "If you want to chase after something like that, then you'll have to take an active role."

"I…" Itachi began, looking down towards his hands. "I'm not sure if I can do that."

"Obviously you of now is too weak to cause any impactful change, we all are." I replied. "…Maybe if you become as strong as Konoha's founders, you would be able to directly impact the world."

"As strong as Hashirama and Madara…" he stated, looking towards me with a sigh. "That's going to be difficult."

"Yep." I replied. "…But if you really aspire for such an ideal world, you will need to be at least powerful enough to take on the entire shinobi world on your own."

He widened his eyes before returning his features to before and looking up. "…Why should it take that much for the world to change for the better."

"Because…" I began, with slightly lidded eyes. "Humans always find a reason to start a conflict. From love to hatred to wealth to women, to even because someone looked at you funny, humans will always find reasons to fight. It's in our nature to fight, so for you to want to stop them from doing that…"

Itachi laid back in the grass. "Why would it be in our nature?"

"Who knows? A flaw in humanities' design?" I replied. "In any case, if you want to go against human nature, you'll need to be ready to fight everyone."

Itachi stayed silent for a moment before asking. "…and what about you? What do you aspire for?"

"What I want…"I began, "Is selfish and simple, but something I have always strived for…"

At Itachi's curious look, I finished. "Strength." I clenched my fist in front of my face. "…I want to be so strong that the very idea of challenging me would be utter foolishness, that even thinking about going up against me would be a sin."

"…why?"

I put down my hand and closed my eyes. "…so that I can live a life with absolutely nothing to control me. The only thing I value above my own life…is my own peace."

Itachi looked at me with a smile. "That is selfish…" he then stayed silent for a moment before asking. "And then? After you become the strongest?"

I opened my eyes half way. "Who knows? I'll probably travel the world or find something else to strive for. I really don't have that much desire anyway." I then paused before looking at Itachi. "And maybe if by that time you still haven't achieved your dream, I will lend a hand."

"Really?" Itachi asked with wide eyes.

"Why not?" I replied, looking back up towards the clouds. "I'll probably have nothing better to do anyway."

Itachi stayed silent for a moment. "Thank you…"

"Hn."

And so we stayed there on the grass looking up towards the clouds and so in my lackadaisical state of mind, I observed them.

" _ **Observe**_ "

 **Cloud (Cumulus)**

 **Cumulus clouds are clouds which have flat bases and are often described as "puffy", "cotton-like" or "fluffy" in appearance. Their name derives from the Latin cumulo-, meaning heap or pile**

"… _Good to know."_

And so I observed them again.

 **Cloud (Cumulus)**

 **Cumulus clouds are clouds which have flat bases and are often described as "puffy", "cotton-like" or "fluffy" in appearance. Their name derives from the Latin cumulo-, meaning heap or pile**

And again-

 **Cloud (Cumulus)**

 **Cumulus clouds are clouds which have flat bases and are often described as "puffy", "cotton-like" or "fluffy" in appearance…**

And again-

 **Cloud (Cumulus)**

 **Cumulus clouds are clouds…**

And again-

 **Cloud (Cumulus)**

…

I had no idea how mind-numbingly long I decided to stare up at the clouds…

 **Cloud…**

but eventually,

" _Ohh that's new…"_

 **Cloud (Cirrus)**

 **Cirrus is a genus of atmospheric cloud generally characterized by thin, wispy strands, giving the type its name from the Latin word cirrus, meaning a ringlet or curling lock of hair.**

" _Neat…"_

Ping!

 **Congratulations! [Observe] has leveled up to level 100!**

 **Congratulations! [Observe] has evolved into the skill [Deconstructive Analysis]!**

 **Deconstructive Analysis (Active) Lvl 1 [00.00%]**

 **Deconstructive Analysis is a skill that not only allows you to observe objects, situations, and people in order to gather information, it also allows you to visually deconstruct your opponent. This allows you to observe their state of mind and weak points. The higher the skill, the more weak points you can unearth.**

 **Information of individuals 100 Lvls higher than you is now available**

 **Can Observe 1% of the enemy's weak points (Note: successfully targeting those weak points allows you to deal critical damage.)**

" _That's even neater…"_

"Itachi!" A voice yelled out from the distance, causing me to blink.

" _I've never heard that voice before…"_

Yet, it seemed as Itachi was intimately familiar with it as he stood up from his sitting position and looked towards the direction of the voice.

"Who is that?" I asked

"It's another close friend of mine." Itachi stated before looking my way and freezing.

I raised a brow. "What?"

He looked me straight in the eyes. "Yoru…your eyes…"

I blinked. "What's wrong?"

"They're…glowing."

I paused at that. " _Could it be…"_ Immediately I deactivated **Deconstructive Analysis** and looked at Itachi. "How about now?"

He shook his head. "No, not anymore. What was-"

"Itachi! I found you!" A feminine voice shouted out before a figure came into view. She had had long brown hair in a ponytail with bangs framing her face and onyx eyes, with a small adorable mole under her right eye.

" _Hmm, she's cute."_ I thought before looking back up at the clouds. " _But that bunny cloud tho…"_

"Izumi…" Itachi stated as he looked at the girl. "What are you doing here?"

The girl smiled. "You promised we would go around the village today."

Itachi paused. "…ohh."

Izumi sighed. "You know Itachi, I figured you would get so lost in your training that you would forget-" she paused and blinked. "Who is that?"

"Hm?" Itachi asked before looking at me who was still admiring the clouds. "Ahh, this is Yoru, a friend of mine."

"I'm surprised" she stated, blinking. "I wouldn't think you would have any friends besides me. Good for you Itachi!"

"…That's rude."

She giggled before looking my way and giving me a short bow. "Nice to meet you! I'm Izumi Uchiha and one of Itachi's friends. Let's get along!" She finished with a beautiful smile.

"Likewise…" I said as I looked her way before turning my gaze back towards Itachi with a smile. "…I didn't think you had it in you to get such an adorable girlfriend and at such a young age to…good for you."

Itachi looked at me startled. "Well, she's not my…"

"G-Girlfriend…" Izumi replied, placing her hands on her flushed cheeks.

Itachi looked at her before looking back at me with a sigh. "…Why do you do this?"

"Trust me…" I said, standing up and dusting myself off. "You'll definitely thank me one day."

Itachi blinked. "Where are you going?"

"Well…" I said, looking at Izumi who was still in her own world before looking back at Itachi. "…It was nice hanging out, but you made a promise to a woman so you have to honor that, besides…" I said, looking towards the distance. "I've spent some time here and still have another trip to make…"

"I see…" Itachi stated before he blinked as I lent him a hand and pulled him up. "…Thank you."

"No worries." I said before looking towards a certain direction of the Uchiha clan district. "Well, I'll be off."

Itachi nodded and turned towards Izumi so I Body Flickered to my next destination.

* * *

I stood in front of the door of a relatively small apartment that was part of an apartment complex near the edge of the Uchiha clan residential area. I looked at the house for a moment before raising my hand and knocking on the door a few times and waiting.

"I'm coming!"

Immediately the door opened giving view to a boy with black eyes, short black hair, and a pair of orange goggles resting on his forehead.

"…Yo, Obito."

Obito blinked and looked at me for a moment. "Yoru? I didn't expect to see you. What are you doing here?"

"…I was in the area so I thought I would drop by." I said, tilting my head to get a view of his home. "You mind if I come inside?"

He shook his head with a smile, "Of course not, come in-"

"Ahh, little Yoru! What a surprise to see you here!" An elderly voice stated behind Obito causing us to look at the source.

"Grandma…" Obito stated as he turned around.

I looked at the old woman for a moment before bowing slightly. "Madame Uchiha…I apologize for my intrusion, I came here on such short notice."

"It's fine! it's fine!" The woman said waving me off with a smile. "Why don't you come inside and I'll get you something to eat."

I nodded my head and looked towards Obito who ushered me inside.

"Why don't you two makes yourselves comfortable while I go prepare something." The elder woman said kindly.

"…Thank you. I apologize for the trouble."

The woman just smiled in return and made her way to the kitchen, leaving me alone with Obito who returned his gaze back towards me. "I realize I haven't been seeing you as of late. How's it been?"

"…Fine, but busy." I replied while making myself comfortable on the couch. "I've been working with a few different Fuuinjutsu projects, in addition, to constantly doing missions. I haven't had that much time to relax."

"Is that so…?" Obito asked before scratching the back of his head and smiling. "I still can't believe you can understand that stuff…" he then began to slightly grumble. "Every time I look at a seal I just get dizzy…"

"Hmm…" I replied looking towards him. "Well, it's not really for everyone and while it is wonderful, it takes a lot of dedication. You'd be spending much less time training your skills if you picked up Fuuinjutsu."

"Even you have your own troubles huh." Obito stated before smiling as two plates of spring rolls were placed on the table. "Ahh! Thank you grandma!"

"Of course." The elder woman said with a smile. "I hope you both enjoy."

I nodded in reply. "…Thank you."

She gave me one more smile before looking at Obito. "I'll be going out to get some things, so be on your best behavior while I'm gone."

"Of course!" Obito replied with a _huff_. "What exactly do you take me for?"

The elder woman chuckled before leaving the apartment.

As soon as his grandmother left the house, Obito grinned as he looked at the food on the table before clapping his hands. "Let's eat!" And with that, he devoured his food.

I watched him gorge on the spring rolls before I liberally took one and popped it in my mouth. "…What are you up to these days?"

Obito looked at me and swallowed his food before replying. "Training, missions, you know…" he said, grabbing another spring roll. "The usual." Then he ate it.

"Hmm…" I stated as I grabbed another spring roll. "Then, how is your love life with Rin going?"

Obito immediately spat out his spring roll and began to cough while patting his chest. He eventually looked at me with a frustrated, but flushed gaze, before sighing. "…It's gone nowhere." He stated while facing the ceiling. "She's so hung up on Kakashi…" he shifted once more. "I don't think I have a shot at this rate. Trust me, I've been trying for years to no avail."

" _Hmm…"_ I thought while swallowing the spring roll. "I guess I can impart into you some of my knowledge about her emotions."

Obito looked at me startled. "You?" He then looked at my face before giving me a twitching smile. "I don't think someone with the emotional capacity of a brick can really teach me much…"

I raised a brow before shrugging and turning away. "…Fine, you can deal with your love life on your own. We all know how well that is going."

And not a moment later-

"Please teach me your ways Yoru-senpai!" Obito stated as he kneeled on the ground and looked up at me with teary eyes.

I rolled my eyes. "…Fine, but first, stop making a fool of yourself."

"Yes!" He stated as he stood up immediately in salute.

I looked him over before ushering him to sit down to which he complied.

"Now…" I began while looking at Obito. "Do you know why Rin is so fixated on Kakashi?"

Obito furrowed his brows before pouting. "…because that silver haired, selfish, emotionless-"

I gave him a look.

He twitched his eyes before chuckling nervously. "I meant Kakashi…" he then went back to pouting. "Because Kakashi is such a great ninja and I guess she likes him for-"

"Wrong." I started cutting him off. At his surprised look, I continued. "Rin doesn't actually like Kakashi as much as you think she does."

He blinked but then exclaimed, "but every time she looks at him there's stars in her eyes and she always scolds me for causing trouble-"

"I get the feeling that you deserve those…"

Obito paused and rapidly shook his head before looking my way. "ANYWAY-" he began while taking a breath. "She always focuses her attention towards him and always praises him." He then slumped to the couch. "I'm pretty sure she likes him a lot."

I sighed. "No." I said, looking straight at him. "She merely has great admiration towards Kakashi but not actual love."

At his startled look, I elaborated. "Every time she praises Kakashi, it is because of his skill and every time she scolds you, it is because of your lack thereof. Am I right?"

He slightly looked away. "Well, you're not _wrong_ …"

I continued. "I've been around team Minato and I have noticed that she doesn't show any form of romantic gestures towards Kakashi."

That was a lie, she definitely had a crush on him.

"She simply admired him as a shinobi, comrade, and friend. Nothing more."

"… _Everything More."_

Obito's eyes widened. "T-Then what about me?"

I looked at him carefully. "…Of course, she cares about you as well. Just as, if not more so, than she does Kakashi."

"Then why-"

"She treats you like that because she cares you fool." I stated before gulping down another spring roll. "Despite your incompetence, Rin actually has a unique place for you in her heart."

I could sense his emotions spinning before he asked. "Then why-"

"Because of your immaturity, I suppose." I replied, already figuring the question. "Both Kakashi and Rin act in a much more reserved manner befitting their status as shinobi but your boisterousness makes you seem like a child. That's probably why she doesn't show much romantic interest in you. Because of your low maturity."

"I-I see." He said, slumping further into the couch while sighing. "If I was like you and Kakashi…"

"Wrong." I stated, breaking him from his thought process. At his gaze, I continued. "…Don't try to change who you are or it'll come off as forced or fake."

"But didn't you say-"

"I know what I said." I replied before sitting up straight and looking at him. "But changing who you are isn't the answer. Improving yourself is."

"Improving myself…" Obito replied in thought.

"Exactly." I said. "Become the best version of yourself as possible not just in your personality but also in your skills. As long as you don't do anything stupid, I'm sure you can wiggle your way into her heart."

There was a short silence before Obito looked at me oddly. "You know, for someone with the emotional capacity of a toaster, you actually give decent advice…"

It was really all thanks to **Empathy** or I'd have terrible people skills. "Well, you can choose not to listen to my advice if you feel that way."

He hastily shook his hands. "No, no, no! I'll gladly take your advice Master!"

I took another spring roll and popped it in my mouth before engaging in conversation with Obito about other meaningless trifles.

" _Hmm…where to next…?"_

* * *

I appeared in front of the Namikaze-Uzumaki house and placed my hand ok the side of the door before gaining access to the house. As the door clicked open and I stepped into the house…

"Yoruuu~!" A voice yelled as I saw the short red haired creature run towards me, however, before she could collide with me I picked her up by the scruff of her shirt and lifted her up to eye level. "…Didn't your mom tell you not to run around like that?"

She giggled.

I placed her on my shoulder before looking around. "Your parents?"

She hummed for a moment while playing with my hair. "Mama is out and papa is-"

"Here." Minato stated as he came down the stairs from his room and smiled.

"Ahh, Papa~!" Mito stated as she reached out her hands towards him.

Minato smiled and liberated her from my shoulders before looking at me. "What brings you here at this time? Not that you aren't welcome of course."

"…Nothing really. I just finished a meeting with the Hokage and the Sannin a few hours back."

Minato began to walk to the living room as he replied. "Ah, you're healing skill right?"

I nodded my head.

"And how did that go?" He asked as he sat down on the couch.

"I don't think they expected my show." I replied with a slight smile. "In the end, Lady Tsunade will screen shinobi who have good enough chakra control and are familiar with the **Mystic Palm Technique**. I'll implant my seal on their bodies allowing them to regrow limbs as well."

"Look at you go." Minato stated with a smile. "Now that you're done with your pet project, what's next?"

I shrugged, "…Who knows? I wanted to work on some spacetime projects but Kushina forbade me from even touching them. I then planned on working on gravity-based seals but your wife was afraid I would create a wormhole to another dimension or something so those projects were shelved since she wouldn't teach me."

Minato shuffled uncomfortably, "Yeah…it must be rough…"

I looked at him in suspicion before deciding not to bother. "The only good thing is that I completed my **Kinetic Absorption Seal** , so at least I have something new in my arsenal."

"Oh? I think Kushina told me about that one." Minato stated in thought. "She kept explaining how it was such a novel concept to apply to the general Immobilization Seal. Good on you."

"I suppose." I replied. "But regardless, now that I have nothing new to work on, I'll just dedicate all my focus on training."

Minato looked at me in amusement. "Many shinobi more than twice your age are only around your level of strength, yet you still want to push forward."

"Compared to you…" I said, looking at him carefully.

* * *

 **Name: Minato Namikaze**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: Lvl 165**

 **HP: 825000/825000**

 **CP: 742500/742500**

 **STR: 2250**

 **VIT: 2500**

 **DEX: 4500**

 **INT: 3000**

 **WIS: 2500**

 **ENGY: 2250**

* * *

"I still have a long way to go…" I finished as I observed his stats. It was now that I was looking at another person with the **Deconstructive Analysis** that I noted very small glowing red areas on his body. They glittered like small stars and seemed to be focused around areas that were near normal human weak points were." _Those must be his weak points I suppose…"_

Minato blinked as he looked at me carefully. "Yoru…your eyes are glowing…"

I shut off my new skill. "Yeah, they do that now."

"I see…" Minato said. He seemed to want to say more but decided not to bother.

"What about you?" I asked. "Now that you've completed your big projects, do you have anything new planned?"

"In the meantime, not so much." Minato replied. "I've had to go on more missions frequently due to the war nearing its climax. It's just…"

I tilted my head. "It's just…?"

Minato looked at me, "Kannabi bridge, you know it?"

" _Hmm…"_ I thought. "Yeah…from what I recall, it's an important supply checkpoint for Iwa in their advance into Kusagakure."

"That's right." Minato replied before sighing. "Over the last few months, with the war intensifying, Iwa has been able to ever so slowly advance due to their occupation of Kannabi Bridge."

I looked at Minato carefully, "And…"

"And in a few months, my team might have to go there." He paused and explained. "While the war isn't necessarily against our favor, the longer we allow Iwa to occupy the bridge, the worse it'll be for us. I plan on taking care of the situation, however not before I train my team a little more."

"I see…" I said, looking towards him. "You really don't have the time to focus on anything else right now do you?"

The blond sighed and leaned into the couch. "Not too much, unfortunately, but hopefully after this war ends, I'll have some more time to work on something new."

I raised a brow, "Kushina will probably be annoyed with you again you know."

Minato chuckled nervously, "What can I say? Seals are just that fun…"

"I can't really argue." I replied

With that, we continued our small talk ranging from his projects to cool jutsu and just about any other mundane thing. That was until Minato looked down towards his lap to see his daughter peacefully sleeping. "I guess she was really tired." He said, carefully picking her up and putting her over his shoulder.

I nodded my head before standing up.

"You're leaving already?" Minato asked.

"Yeah." I replied while loosening my neck with cracks. "I'll probably go harass my teacher or something. I have nothing better to do for the night."

"Alright then." Minato replied brightly. "It was a pleasure to talk with you."

"Likewise." I said before vanishing from the house.


	15. Chapter 15

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Author's Note: Someone recently ranted about how dumb my villains act and about how Yoru always fights people stronger than him and only wins because I make his opponents idiots...I get the feeling that they won't like this chapter. Let me know if that's what you guys feel cause this is the first time someone's said something like that about my antagonists lol.**

 **Also, as to not disrupt the flow of my chapters, I'll just do Author's notes and questions at the end of them and if you care, you can check them out.**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

" **Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"**

And with that declaration, a ball of fire flew towards Minato who handily dodged the attack. Unfortunately, I was sitting on a tree 20 meters behind with a book in hand so the attack came rushing towards me.

"Ahh! Yoru watch out!" Obito yelled though it was unnecessary.

With a raised hand, I spread my chakra out and gathered water molecules from the atmosphere before forming a thick wall of water to my side. The fireball impacted the aqueous barrier causing steam to emit from the evaporating liquid.

I channeled my chakra through my lungs and converted the energy into its wind nature before blowing the air out of my lips. The wind generated was much more intense than it should have been from my simple action and it caused the steam to disperse.

Minato landed on the ground and looked to me with a smile before turning back towards Obito who was standing on a tree besides Rin. "In the field, you have to be mindful of the impact your attacks have on your allies. Always make sure to keep an eye out in order to prevent friendly fire."

"Yes, Sensei!" Obito stated sharply, but no sooner did Rin make a quick swiping motion with a kunai in hand. The effect of that movement was soon noticeable as a large net was made visible under Minato's feet, threatening to ensnare him.

Unfortunately for the two, the blonde ninja had unnatural reaction abilities and was able to quickly jump up into the air.

"Darn, so close." Obito stated, however, Rin merely smiled.

"Not yet!" She said eagerly and set off another trap which caused a log to fly towards Minato's form at breakneck speeds.

The man reacted quickly and threw one of his tri-pronged kunai at a tree beside him and no sooner did he teleport to that location, dodging the attack.

Rin sighed though there was still a smile on her face. "I thought we might have had you for a moment sensei."

Minato chuckled, "Not bad you two, I like to see that you're working together and building off each other. This is exactly what you're going to need t-"

Minato immediately jumped out of the way as a barrage of kunai struck the ground where he had previously been. Immediately, Kakashi appeared from the bushes and dashed towards Minato with two Kunai in hand.

He quickly threw them consecutively at his teacher, however, Minato easily avoided them by tilting his head left then right. The kunai flew past him on either side of his face before being lodged into the tree behind the blonde shinobi.

Kakashi didn't let up, however, and quickly flipped through two handseals before the sound of birds chirping could be heard. The electricity generated on his hands actually made a sharp beeline towards Minato in the same trajectory that he had thrown his kunai.

" _Ohh? Ninja wire on the kunai…"_ I thought as I watched Kakashi cross his arms together causing the electrified strings to begin to come together, like the blades of scissors.

Minato, in order to prevent getting beheaded by his student, immediately ducked, his chest nearly touching the ground.

Kakashi took this moment to flip through handseals once more before slamming his Palm on the ground, causing a ripple to expand towards Minato.

The unsteady earth caused Minato to falter for a fraction of a second which was all the opportunity Kakashi needed to dash towards him and reach out his hand towards the bells on Minato's side.

I sensed Minato's appreciation before he twisted his body and, using one hand for support, slapped Kakashi's hand away before flipping back.

Kakashi took this moment to retreat back into the bushes before Minato could regain his bearings.

"Tch. Show off." Obito stated as he sat down on the tree branch with his arms crossed.

Rin gave him a smile, "We did well Obito, let's just see what Kakashi has planned." Saying so, I noticed Rin inch slightly closer to Obito and I felt her mood fluctuate positively.

" _Ohh? Not bad Obito…"_

Though, with his crush so close to him and with his blushing cheeks, Obito relented with a nod.

The forest was silent for but a moment before the trees rustled. Immediately, threw Kakashi's came out from the bushes towards Minato in 3 directions. The blond took a single step back before flipping a Kakashi over his shoulder causing it to impact another one. They both dispelled causing a momentary smokescreen before the third Kakashi Clone seemingly disappeared.

Minato raised his brow at the sight and no sooner did a pair of small hands grab his feet from underground.

I watched the display before my ears twitched. With my enhanced hearing, I could hear the sound of a Kakashi's bird sounding lightning technique chirping in the distance.

It was at that moment that Minato's chakra signature disappeared from in front of me and appeared next to Kakashi's chakra signature.

" _He used the_ _ **Flying Thunder God Technique**_ _, but when did he…"_ I paused and reviewed the battle for a moment before recalling the moment that Minato had slapped Kakashi's hand away. " _He must have implanted the formula onto Kakashi's sleeve then…"_

As my musings ended, Minato appeared back in the clearing with a slightly downtrodden Kakashi in toe.

Seeing his student's appearance, Minato patted his head, "You did good Kakashi. Your skills, strength, and tactics are one befitting of a Jonin, so don't take your loss to heart."

Kakashi nodded before Obito and Rin dropped down next to them.

"You were close Kakashi." Rin stated with a smile. "Next time, you'll definitely get him." She finished in assurance.

"Hmph." Obito stated with his hands on his head. "Once I get my Sharingan, I'll do 10x better than him."

Rin gave him a bright smile, "I believe in you."

Obito's cheeks reddened a substantial amount before he quickly turned his gaze away.

I watched them for a moment before a gargantuan chakra signature appeared on the edge of my detection range and arrived in front of Minato and his team in but a few moments. If it wasn't for the fact that I felt this same signature pretty much every single day and was familiar with who had it, I would have just run in the opposite direction.

"Everyone food is here!" Kushina yelled with a smile as she appeared in the clearing with an adorable red-haired girl in her hands.

She placed Mito down and began channeling chakra to a specific point on her body before in a _puff_ , the ground became covered with neatly decorated and assorted foodstuffs.

"Ahh!" Rin stated, stars in her eyes as she looked at the food and grabbed one of the baskets. "Your cooking is always the best Mrs. Uzumaki! I love it!"

Kushina's eyes widened before she grabbed Rin in a hug and began rubbing her cheek against hers. "Ohh! You're just the most adorable creature~!"

"Ahhh~!"

She eventually let the flustered Rin go before looking at the 3 other guys in front of her with a smile, "I prepared this for all of us so please enjoy!"

Minato smiled in response while Kakashi nodded his head slightly, but Obito…

"Who needs to eat?!" He began before looking at Kakashi angrily, "I won't take a single bite until I beat him. Sensei! One more time please!"

"Hah?!" Kushina stated as a tick mark grew on her forehead while she looked at Obito. Her hair began to sway wildly in 9 directions as she began pulling on Obito's cheeks and replied. "Listen here you ungrateful brat! The food I so graciously prepared for you is going to end up in your stomach even if I have to force it down there! Understand?!"

"Yessh Ish undershtanddd!" Obito stated as he tried to pull away from her hands that were pinching his face but to no avail.

"Good." She replied before letting go of Obito's face and looking my way in the distance. "Yoru, you too!"

"…Yes ma'am." I said and appeared next to them

"Now!" Kushina stated with a smile. "Let's eat!"

* * *

"Thank you for the meal!"

"…Thanks for the food."

"Even though I was forced to eat this, thank you."

Rin, Kakashi, And Obito stated respectively.

Kushina rolled her eyes at Obito's comment before smiling. "Of course! You all need to be on your best for tomorrow."

"Kushina's right." Minato began as he looked towards his team, "After this, go rest up and don't do anything strenuous tonight. We're going to have a long day tomorrow."

Obito blinked, "Our mission to Kannabi bridge?"

"That's right." Minato began before looking at Kakashi, "And for that mission, Kakashi will be your team captain since he just got promoted to Jonin."

"Good for you Kakashi!" Rin stated with a smile.

"I could do much better…eventually." Obito stated with his arms crossed as he looked away.

Minato simply smiled.

Kakashi was the first to leave after putting his stuff away followed by Rin and Obito.

"Thank you for the meal." I said as I finished my food and placed it down on the picnic cloth.

"Of course Yoru." Kushina said brightly.

I nodded and stood up, prompting Kushina to ask. "You're all set?"

I nodded my head. "I'll be here for a while longer so you don't have to wait for me."

Kushina nodded before looking at Minato, "I'm sure you're going to have a long day ahead of you tomorrow, you should go home and rest."

"Yeah, you're right." Minato replied while picking up Mito. He then looked towards me with a smile, "Stay safe Yoru."

I nodded in reply, "Likewise."

And with that, the couple began their trek back to their home.

I watched them leave, thinking about the mission that Minato was to undertake tomorrow.

" _Kannabi bridge…"_ I thought with an odd sense of unease. For some reason I felt some form of trepidation when thinking about that mission of his and could not for the life of me understand why. Regardless, as there was nothing I could really do, I simply sighed.

" _I want this war to end…"_ I couldn't help but think. Day after day, week after week, month after month, I had been doing missions, most of which could be classified as suicidal. There was absolutely nothing enjoyable about this way of life and over the years while I had enjoyed growing stronger, I really hadn't had any time to relax without worrying about anything.

I picked up the book I was reading and hopped up to a nearby tree before sitting on the tree branch. Orochimaru's question a while back had got me thinking that having more knowledge about biology wouldn't be too bad. I only had enough knowledge of human anatomy and physiology to kill more effectively, but I had no deep knowledge about the body's more in-depth biomolecular processes.

So here I was with an interesting biology book in hand written by none other than Orochimaru himself. While the information in the book was quite graphic (since he tended to explain how he got said information), I couldn't deny that it was very informative and interesting.

I sat on the tree reading, taking my time to delve into the book. I could easily finish it in a matter of minutes, but then there would be no enjoyment. Eventually, I became lost in the information in the book, slowly reading and enjoying the new material I was learning.

Suddenly, I felt a soft sensation on the back of my head causing me to blink. "Teacher…?"

"Here." She said before handing me a scroll and hugging me closer.

"…What's wrong?" I asked, sensing a subtle turbulence in her emotions.

She didn't reply, but I knew that something was bothering her so I looked to the scroll in trepidation. I put my book down and opened the scroll before reading it.

My body froze.

I read through the mission statement twice more before tightly gripping the scroll causing it to crumple. **Gamer's Mind** was able to keep my mental state in check, but my body couldn't help but release some cold sweat from the information presented to me.

* * *

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Jinchuuriki Slaying!**

 **The Four-Tails Jinchuuriki, Rōshi of Iwa, is on the move towards Kannabi bridge in order to reinforce its defenses. Due to most of Konoha's forces being concentrated on destroying it, you and a squad of many other Anbu will be tasked with killing Rōshi before he makes it to the bridge. If possible, you are to create a trail towards Kumo in order to frame them for the murder.**

 **Reward: 2,500,000 EXP, 100 Stat Points**

 **Failure: Death**

* * *

I generated fire from my hands before burning the scroll to ashes. "When are we to leave?"

"Tonight." Kotoe replied. "Iwa has become desperate to protect their supply chain so we will need to stop him before he makes it to Kannabi bridge, We'll rendezvous with many other groups at our eastern exit point."

I watched as the ashes of the mission scroll flew in the wind before gripping my fists. "Alright, I'll be there soon."

Kotoe stayed as she hugged me tighter once more before I felt the loss of her warmth.

I closed my eyes in thought while looking up and relaxing my head against the tree. If Rōshi was anywhere as powerful as Kushina or even somewhat relative to Minato's strength, I would be in ea lot of trouble. There _was_ 1 technique in my entire arsenal that I believed would be able to kill him, but it would cause massive collateral damage and wasn't something I could use in a team effort. Not to mention, a skilled shinobi would be able to dodge it since it took a few milliseconds to charge up.

" _Let me see my base stats."_

Ping!

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Race: Human?**

 **Age: 9 years old**

 **Level: Lvl 79 Next Level: 304,000/321,400**

 **HP: 190696/190696 Regen: (4576.72 per min)**

 **CP: 269249** **/269249** **Regen: (9154.47 per min)**

 **CC: 100%**

 **STR:** **368 + (258%) = 949**

 **VIT:** **374 + (258%) = 965**

 **DEX:** **372 + (258%) = 960**

 **INT:** **246 + (298%) =** **733**

 **WIS:** **242 +** **(298%) = 721**

 **ENGY:** **249 + (455%) =** **1135**

 **Points: 115**

 **Ryo: 1,355,348**

Ever since my main stats had reached 100 in value, I had not obtained another perk from them even though they had reached the 150 and 200 checkpoints. However, I had received perks for **STR** , **VIT** , **DEX** once they had reached the 250 base stat checkpoint.

 **Dense muscle II (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **Dense muscle is a skill given to those with overwhelming Strength. The denseness of your muscled increases greatly, allowing you to suffer less damage form physical attacks.**

 **Increase Durability equal to your STR x 2 value.**

 **Thick Skin (Passive) Lvl MAX**

 **Thick Skin is your body's natural outer defenses that depends upon your maximum HP value. It increases your final durability equal to 1% of your HP value.**

 **DUR increased by 1% HP**

 **Hawkeyes II (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **Hawkeyes II is a skill granted to those with incredible natural vision. With this ability, every point the user has in Dexterity x 2 is a meter long increase to their natural vision range. It also allows the user to see in the dark. (I.e. a DEX stat of 200 [including bonuses] would increase your maximum vision range by 400 meters.)**

 **Thick Skin** was an interesting perk as it sort of deviated from what I had expected, however, there was nothing else of note. I hadn't invested my points as I had been saving them, but at this point I didn't really have much of a choice. With that line of thinking, I put a single point into **ENGY** to give it that nice round number of 250.

Ping!

 **For reaching 250 in ENGY, the perk [Energy Conductor] has been upgraded to [Energy Conductor II]**

 **Energy Conductor II (Passive) Lvl [Max]**

 **50% increase to your energy regeneration**

 **50% increase to your energy capacity**

 **25% damage increase to energy based attacks**

My brows raised slightly before I shook my head. Even this wouldn't be enough, so I put enough points into my **WIS** and **INT** stats to get them up to 250.

Ping!

 **For reaching 250 in WIS, the perk [** **Perception** **] has been upgraded to [** **Perception** **II]**

 **For reaching 250 in INT, the perk [** **Accelerated Analysis** **] has been upgraded to [** **Accelerated Analysis** **II]**

With this, I only had **102** stat points remaining which I equally distributed to my **STR** , **VIT** , **DEX** and **ENGY** stats leaving me with no more stat points. If my strongest attack was to be effective, I needed as much chakra as I could get. Additionally, I would need my strength, health, and speed to survive. I looked through my stats once more before closing the screen. I carefully put the biology book in my inventory and stood up before taking out my work clothes from the inventory and changing. After slipping on my Anbu mask, I looked to the east before vanishing from my spot.

* * *

The sound of a cane slamming the ground was heard reverberating throughout the room. Inside this hidden bunker were 30 well trained Anbu members, each of them high level Jonins to S-rank in strength with the captains at higher levels of S-rank.

Danzo looked at each of us with his lone eye before saying. "Tonight, you all will risk your lives to give our Village a chance to win this war. Some of you won't make it back in once piece and some won't make it back at all, but know that your sacrifice will allow the village to continue in prosperity for generations to come."

" _I'd honestly rather not though…"_

Too bad I'd get in a lot of trouble if I tried to ditch this madness. Besides, my teacher was going on it as well and I at the very least had to make sure she got out of it alright.

As those thoughts passed through my mind, Danzo slammed his cane on the ground once more, causing all of us to stand to attention. "Now go, and complete your mission with your pride as a leaf shinobi."

With the last word said, we all vanished from our spots and made it outside the village borders before beginning our journey.

" _Roshi, the four-tailed Jinchuuriki…"_ I thought as I continued to travel through the forest. The mission intelligence had told us that Rōshi was at a specific spot in between the borders of Iwa and Kusagakure. I had heard that he had been doing small things in the war here and there for Iwa, but nothing substantial.

So why now?

From all the information I had in him, I found that Roshi apparently had left Iwa over a decade ago and he had been on his own ever since. The Tsuchikage must have given him some sort of incentive to return to duty.

I didn't know how powerful the average Jinchuuriki was, but Roshi had been alive around 3 times longer than I had, so there's was no way he was a weak Jinchuuriki.

"Keep your eyes forward and don't lose focus." Kotoe said from beside me.

I nodded my head and continued onwards at the breakneck speeds we were traveling at. In little time, we stopped in front of the entrance to a large forest with stony soil.

" _We're near Iwa's border…"_ I thought.

"Everyone stop!" One of the Anbu captains said from in front. "We are still some ways to our destination but we need to begin making escape routes from here."

It was at this point that Boar, one of the Leading Anbu captains for this mission, spoke up to all the Anbu. "The plan we have is simple: we'll set up multiple traps along here all the way to Kumo's borders. The worst case scenario is that we all die and they end up killing some Iwa ninja long the way. The best case scenario is that we are able to complete our mission while also successfully drawing Iwagakure's attention to Kumogakure."

At this point, one of the other leading Anbu captains for this mission spoke up. "The enemy should have no idea that we have information on them since it was gathered by Jiraiya of the Sannin's intelligence network. The goal it to make it seem as if Kumo is behind the attack so make sure to primarily use lightning release. Everything else I would have to say has already been explained in the mission detail so move out!"

All the Anbu replied in affirmation and spread out to begin laying traps and formations. We were working in teams in order to insure that we didn't screw each other over and accidentally set off our own traps.

It wasn't until a couple hours into the night that we re-grouped together and began to plan our attack and escape routes.

"Dove." Boar stated while looking at my teacher. "Can you sense anything?"

My teacher paused for a moment before shaking her head in the negative. "No. Nothing is on my radar."

Boar nodded before looking at the other team captain of this group of 30, a man with a lion-like Anbu mask. "Should we continue?"

Lion nodded before looking ahead towards the rest of the Anbu platoon. "We'll be heading into enemy territory very soon and our sensor will alert us when we get close to our target. Regardless, stay on alert."

We all nodded silently before the three team captains moved on ahead, the rest of us following them right after. Kotoe moved on ahead as she had the greatest detection range and I followed right behind her just in case she missed something.

In but a few moments, however, Kotoe perked up and gave us a hand signal. " _20 kilometers away, 1.5 minutes, remain silent."_

There was no need for us to respond as we moved in unison towards our destination, however, as we reached approximately 5 kilometers from our target, I sensed a gigantic chakra signature. It was bright and scalding, dwarfing the small number of chakra signatures around it by a large margin.

It was by no means greater than Kushina's chakra signature, but it was frightening nonetheless. I looked towards my teacher whose gaze was focused ahead before she gave out hand signals as we approached our destination. " _5, 4, 3, 2…"_

A clearing came into view, around which there were multiple earth style huts set up. With my **Energy Resonance** , my gaze quickly focused upon a large tent that was in the center of the camp and in that moment, Kotoe gave out her final signal.

" _1."_

I immediately stopped, my movements and breathing suppressed to their absolute minimum. I looked down below while standing in the trees located around the edge of the clearing. My attention was astute as I awaited orders from the team leaders who were carefully watching the camp proceeding. Around the campsite there were multiple enemy guards keeping watch of the surroundings on each end of the clearing.

Lion looked towards Kotoe before signaling her, " _How many?"_

Kotoe paused for a moment before signaling back " _101."_

We all waited here, watching and memorizing the patrol routes, timing, and activities of the guards in order to locate the most optimal form of attack. He gave a few hand signals causing a couple of our Anbu to silently make their way forward just as two of the shinobi on standby had turned their heads for just a moment.

It happened in an instant.

Our Anbu covered their mouths and slit their throats causing them to gurgle on their blood before eventually dropping dead. They immediately moved into the tent nearby, so I began focusing on my chakra detection in order to properly sense them.

It was only a couple seconds later that I sensed the life energy of the enemy ninja in the tent being snuffed out before the two Anbu exited the tent.

Lion nodded and quickly passed down a couple of signals. " _Boar, Panther, take a ⅓ of the platoon and split up. Dispatch the guards. Pay attention to the center tent. Move out."_

I followed Boar as he quickly lead my teacher and the rest of our group to the other side of the tent. We stopped once we arrived at our position and waited till the guards began to change their pattern. Boar gave us a couple signals: " _Squirrel. Dove. Attack when an opening arrives. Dove, I'll need your sensing abilities up ahead."_

I slightly nodded, watching as Boar, Wolf and the rest of our usual crew moved on. I then returned my gaze to the processes in front of me while noting Kotoe doing the same. I carefully watched the movements of the guards and slowed down the rhythm of my breathing, waiting till the moment was just right…

Then I struck.

In the instant that the guards were distracted, I burst forward towards them with my kunai in hand. I landed on the shoulders of one of the shinobi, my knife in a reverse grip, and immediately clamped his mouth shut. The air whistled at the speed in which I brought down my chakra enhanced weapon, it's blade aimed at his jugular. The weapon easily connected, quickly sinking into the enemy's neck as if it were dough, causing blood to spray everywhere.

My movements had been so quick and decisive that the enemy had not a moment to respond and could only widen his eyes as he struggled and gurgled on his own blood. It was no surprise when his mortality eventually won out and his body slumped and fell to the ground.

I quietly hopped off him and carefully placed his body down before looking to my left, noting my teacher was wiping the blood off her blade, the severed head of the other Iwa ninja on the ground. I quickly manipulated the earth, sending my chakra through the soil and sinking the bodies of the enemies deep within. With a little water manipulation, I cleaned up the blood in the area and looked towards my teacher who looked back at me with a nod before tilting her head towards the tent.

I nodded and concentrated on the chakra signals inside, noting that the chakras of the individuals inside the tent were mild and undisturbed, indicating that they were in a relaxed position. I nodded to Kotoe and quietly made my way inside, my **Stealth** greatly aiding the masking of the sounds from my movements. I stood over the body of one of the sleeping Iwa ninja before swiping my kunai across his neck quickly, killing him.

I looked to my left to see that Teacher had already completed with her end of the job and nodded towards her before moving to step out of the tent.

Immediately I paused, Kotoe stopping as well.

" _Their routes finally changed…"_ I thought as I sensed a couple of enemy signatures making their way towards this direction. I stayed quiet as the chakra signatures of the other enemy guards made their way over to this area and began to converse with each other.

"Hey, It's been pretty quiet as of late don't you think?"

"…You know what, you're right. I suppose a lot of people decided to crash early, after all, with the four tails here there's very little to worry about."

"Still though…"

"Mah, stop worrying so much, you'll get to see your pretty little wife soon enough."

"W-What? She's not-"

"Who are you kidding? You two have been practically inseparable for years. I'm actually surprised you two haven't actually sealed the deal yet."

"…I was planning on proposing after this last mission, after all, I had promised her I would make it back."

"Haha, isn't that romantic! Took you long en-"

The rest of the words rang silent through my ears as I sighed and quickly shook my head from any distracting thoughts. **Gamer's Mind** calmed me down and allowed me to focus on the approaching chakra signatures before I pinpointed exactly where their bodies were in relation to me. I quickly charged and concentrated a large amount chakra to the tips of my index fingers.

As they began to glow up and charge with plasma, I concurrently condensed the energy to be as thick as my finger before aiming and firing.

 **Storm Style: Laser Finger**

Two thin beams of concentrated plasma escaped my fingertips and tore holes through the earthen made tent before I heard the squelching sounds of my attack piercing flesh. Sensing their chakra signatures disappear, I sighed once more.

Kotoe came up from behind me and caressed my head gently before motioning me to move out of the tent. There in front of us, I saw the two corpses of the Iwa ninja each with a hole through their head, the heat from my **Storm Release** having cauterized the finger-thick wound instantaneously as they died.

With that, I focused my **Energy Resonance** and sensed the chakra signatures of my group further up ahead near the center of the camp.

" _35 left."_ I looked up towards Teacher who stared at me in return and rubbed my head once more before moving ahead.

I followed behind her as we advanced carefully towards the center tent while making sure to avoid enemy detection. I could sense that the other Anbu were less frequently engaging the enemy as we did still need some alive in order to lead them towards Kumo.

" _Though any moment now they'll figure something is wrong…"_

"ENEMY ATTACK!"

" _That wasn't me. I definitely did not jinx that."_ Thinking along those lines, I looked to Teacher who immediately jumped up to the roof of the nearest earth tent, so I followed her. I looked around, noting the frantic movements of the enemy shinobi while also sensing the chakra of the other Anbu gathering around the center tent.

And then I froze.

A scalding feeling of immense dread washed over my being like the scorching flames of the sun.

My head whipped towards the source, sweat dripping from my brow as I felt a large buildup of chakra from the center tent.

" _Something's coming…!"_

And then I saw it.

A torrent of lava billowed out from the center tent, it's height eclipsing the highest trees. The molten flames rained down upon the Anbu surrounding the small structure, it's goal of annihilation made exquisitely clear.

I watched as the Anbu quickly gave it a wide berth and watched on in silence and the pillar of lava began to subside.

Suddenly, I tilted my head and caught the kunai that had been aimed at my skull before charging the metal projectile with lightning.

I threw it back towards the owner at hypersonic speeds with a flick of my wrist-

"ARGH!"

-and turned back towards Kotoe who spared my motions a glance before commenting. "The target has appeared."

"It appears so…" I said as the magma pillar died down, giving view to the man within.

* * *

 **Name: Roshi**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: Lvl 135**

 **HP: 675000/675000**

 **CP: 670000/675000**

 **STR: 2000**

 **VIT: 2500**

 **DEX: 1750**

 **INT: 1500**

 **WIS: 1500**

 **ENGY: 2500**

* * *

My lord...

"You don't have to come with me over there." She began. "Once we put up the **Four Violet Flames Formation** around him, the battle will have already been ours. In the meantime, you can stay out here and assist with cleaning up the rest of them."

I shook my head. "I'll be able to take care of myself in there with you."

And I don't want you to die.

My teacher looked at me in the eye before shaking her head. "I would argue with you, but we are short of time. Just promise me you'll keep your distance from him."

"...I'll try."

While I could sense she wasn't comforted by that, she decided to quickly move towards the focal point of the battlefield. I made sure not to lag behind as I followed her while also making a quick mental note of the current situation. Some of the remaining enemy shinobi were being picked off by our forces as we didn't want the enemy to distract us while we were fighting the 4-tails, besides, we only needed to lead a few enemies towards Kumo and any remaining Stone ninja would call up reinforcements.

" _Though, that all depends on if we can make it out of here alive…"_

I landed next to Kotoe as we joined the encirclement. Each member of the unit surrounding Roshi stood poised to strike, their body slightly crouched as their weapons lay in grasp. I could hear the rapid beating of their hearts, sense their unease, smell the perspiration from their skin as Roshi stood tall with his arms crossed, his gaze shifting through the surrounding units. He closed his eyes for a brief moment…

And opened them.

"Move!"

I heard Lion shout before Roshi spewed countless molten rocks from his mouth. I quickly separated from Kotoe as I moved to dodge and wadded through the scorching projectiles. The mere heat emanating from the attack caused my skin to swelter, but I focused on the matter at hand.

In a coordinated fashion, 4 Anbu spread out from the encirclement and stood in a square formation before erecting a purple barrier of flames and with that complete, we didn't hold back.

8 Anbu spewed water from their mouths following which 8 more discharged lightning techniques into the torrential water wave. The lightning techniques augmented the collaborative chakra based water wave as it hurled towards Roshi, its destructive capacity made evident as the ground tore in its path.

Roshi sharpened his gaze before flipping through handseals, raising his leg, and trampling the ground. A four-cornered barrier of lava appeared around him to shield against the incoming attack before an explosion rocketed our **Four Violet Flames Formation** as the techniques made contact.

The dust and debris obscuring our vision quickly subsided as Roshi punched the ground, his arm glowing red with sweltering heat, causing pillars of lava to spew out from the earth near him. The geysers of lava then began to rapidly propagate and quickly spread outwards towards us.

I stepped forward along with 9 others and placed my hands on the ground, causing a ripple to spread out and manipulating the earth underneath us. We shifted the direction of the lava beneath us and maneuvered the direction of its flow away from us causing the magma to violently erupt from outside the **Four Violet Flames Formation**.

In a fluid motion, Lightning and water techniques flew over our heads and headed towards Roshi. They were perfectly timed just at the moment Roshi had finished executing his jutsu, leaving him little time to recover himself. He gritted his teeth and took the attacks with his body causing him to be pushed back towards the barrier.

He sunk his feet to the ground using lava and slowed his body's motions before grinding himself to a stop.

There was a moment of pause as Roshi narrowed his eyes.

My heart seemed to still as a terrible premonition made its way through me.

Before I felt it.

An immense wave of heat washed over the battlefield as Roshi's chakra spiked immensely. A single tail appeared behind him before his body was enveloped by a chakra cloak of lava. The ground beneath him began to melt from his energy emission and the vegetation in the surroundings began to smoulder in his presence.

* * *

 **Name: Roshi**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: Lvl 150**

 **HP: 627680/675000**

 **CP: 660000/675000**

 **STR: 2000 (50%) = 3000**

 **VIT: 2500**

 **DEX: 1750 (50%) = 2625**

 **INT: 1500**

 **WIS: 1500**

 **ENGY: 2500**

* * *

With that he lifted his head,

And vanished.

A scream echoed through the barrier.

My eyes widened as I turned to my right, seeing in my vision Roshi's glowing fist rammed through the chest of one of the Anbu members. The heat emanating from Roshi burned through the now dead Anbu's body before he unceremoniously dislodged his hand causing the body to fall and crumble as it came in contact with they ground.

Immediately, I and every Anbu in Roshi's immediate vicinity leaped back in order to create distance and in the same moment, we attacked.

Handseals formed.

Chakra molded.

Torrents of water and lightning techniques flew towards Roshi who narrowed his eyes and did his best to move through the techniques. His area of motion was limited by the barrier we had set up so he was forced to take a portion of the attack head-on. Steam obscured the visions of everyone on the battlefield, yet the sounds of clashing and destruction continued to sound out around us.

I sharpened my eyes.

" _ **Deconstructive Analysis."**_

WIth my sensing capabilities, I could sense Roshi's movements and position within the fog. Small red spots appeared on his body in my vision, each one denoting his weak points. I waited for an opening, calmly watching as he fought against out units and began to compile damage throughout. We were losing men, however, Roshi was also losing steam, so all I needed to do was wait till he was most vulner-

" _Shit!"_ I thought, eyes widening as I felt Roshi dash towards where my Teacher and two other shinobi were located in the barrier.

The first individual barely lasted a few attacks before he was smashed away.

 **Wind Release-**

As I concentrated a large amount of energy in my lungs, the second individual along with my teacher worked in tandem to retreat and chip away at his stamina. Both my teacher and the other shinobi spewed torrents of water at Roshi and immediately dashed to opposite sides of him and contained him within a pincer attack. Roshi cocked his arm back and punched out, the shockwave and heat from his attack dispersing the combined techniques, however, he was soon wrapped by chakra wire on both sides as he had left an opening when dispersing the attacks.

Both my teacher and the other shinobi followed through by generating a powerful electrical current that traveled through the wires and into Roshi. He grunted in pain before he released more chakra from his core, the heat from his lava armor melting the highly durable wire and traveling back towards their owners. They both faltered in pain for a brief moment which Roshi capitalized on and jumped up, his chest bulging before he sprayed out torrents of lava at them both, intent on melting them to ash.

The battle between Roshi and my teacher with the other shinobi had barely lasted a couple milliseconds from the moment the water techniques had been released to the moment Roshi had shot out his lava.

 **-Great Breakthrough!**

Just before the lava fell on my Teacher, I released the stored up energy in a hurricane of wind that blew not only the lava away, but also Roshi. The wind tore through the earth as it passed by and hurled the jinchuuriki across the battlefield as he bounced across the dirt. At the same instant, the residual steam in the area completely dissipated with my attack, allowing our visibility to return in full.

I noticed my teacher look my way, however, I didn't lose focus and immediately gathered energy between my hands before a large ball of plasma formed. My eyes picked up the weak points in his defenses which is where I aimed as I released the gathered energy.

 **Storm Style: Laser Circus!**

Beams of plasma shot out from the sphere of energy in my hands and blasted Roshi in all the vulnerable areas I had found. In conjunction with my attack, the other members had not been idle as they too attacked with their techniques as well causing lightning and water to dance across the battlefield before impacting Roshi's body.

The area trembled.

Dust and debris obscured our sight from the collisions of energy.

 **-9785**

 **-11580**

 **-11821**

 **-10580**

 **-11900**

 **-9765**

 **-9335**

 **-10580**

 **-12321**

 **-8680**

 **-10900**

 **-9765**

 **-9812**

 **-9…**

 **[Roshi]**

 **HP: 306668/675000**

"Did we get him?" one of our Anbu asked out loud.

I had the sudden urge to smack whoever said that.

As I could see his damage bar, I was not surprised when Roshi emerged from the assault with ragged breaths. His chakra was in disarray, clothes and armor were torn apart, and blood was flowing through the wounds that seemed to be concentrated around his weak points. With a grimace on his visage, he looked at the small holes in his clothes and wounds on his skin caused by everyone's attack before his gaze locked with mine.

"… **!"**

An immense sense of deadly crisis overwhelmed me as Roshi's gaze seemed to literally burn through my body. It was only at the instant that Roshi was already upon me that **Accelerated Analysis** slowed my perception of time to a near crawl. I could see his slowly inching fist of lava and feel the scorching heat emanating from his body.

There seemed to be nothing I could do.

I couldn't fully dodge.

I wasn't fast enough.

Numerous possibilities appeared and disappeared in my mind.

And then, an insane plan formed.

Roshi's fist rammed through my chest like a hot knife through butter. I gripped unto his lava coated arms, the immense heat emanating from them easily burning through my skin.

 **-153703**

 **[Yoru]**

 **HP: 49732/203435**

" _Stage 1 of my incredibly suicidal plan: Get stabbed through the fucking chest. Ow, this fucking hurts so damn much. How did I convince myself that this was a good idea…"_

Roshi sent his lava coursing through my body intent on completely destroying me. I could see red crack-like lines spreading from my chest and moving across my body.

However, I gripped onto his arm even tighter ignoring the sizzling of my burning skin.

My **HP** rapidly dropped and it was only thanks to **Mystical Healing** that I was barely able to keep myself alive.

Seeing as I had secured Roshi in place, the rest of the Anbu quickly moved in to attack.

At this moment I could sense the myriad of emotions coming from my teacher.

Shock.

Confusion.

Pain.

She definitely wouldn't be happy with me later…

" _ **ID Create: Empty**_ "

Thinking along those lines, a bubble of reality encompassed Roshi and I as the bright white full moon turned red and sound seemingly disappeared. Roshi, immediately noticing the discrepancies, halted in the burning of my internal organs as he quickly looked around. "The hell did you bring me?"

With fury evident in his visage, his arm (still painfully lodged in my chest) emitted a more fearful heat that threatened to completely destroy me within.

I could only heal myself so fast with **Mystical Healing** and in time his abilities would overwhelm my healing factor, so I moved onto stage 3 of my incredibly suicidal plan.

Rows of inscriptions began to appear on Roshi's arm where my hands were connected. The man's eyes widened as they spread throughout his body before each inch of his body and clothes we're packed with my inscriptions.

"What…?!" He said as he struggled to move.

" _ **Kinetic Absorption seal**_ _."_ I thought, however, Roshi had considerably more chakra that I did and would be able to overload my seal with his energy, so it would only take a couple seconds before he broke out.

But that was more than enough.

" _And for the 4th and final stage of my incredibly suicidal plan…"_

I clapped my hands together.

" _We die."_

I sent every scrap of chakra into the palms of my hands as I separated them causing a ball of lightning to form before it rapidly became bigger

and bigger

and bigger.

In a few thousandths of a second, a dense ball of electricity, 25 meters in diameter, formed above me, containing every scrap of chakra that I could possibly muster. Then, I immediately condensed the energy into as smalle of a ball as I could and brought the now head-sized sphere of energy between Roshi and me.

Roshi's eyes widened and for the first time I could sense a feeling of trepidation coming from him. He struggled to move quickly, no doubt to dodge or run away,

but it was too late.

" _ **Lightning Release: Lightning Bomb**_ "

I relinquished control over the immense amount of energy contained within the ball.

And with that, my vision was overcome with white.

 **-325000**

 **[Roshi]**

 **HP: 0/637500**

 **-262500**

 **[Yoru]**

 **HP: 0/203435**

 **You Died!**

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

 **Activated [Second Wind]!**

 **+10% HP**

 **[Yoru]**

 **HP: 20343/203435**

My eyes snapped open.

Which I instantly regretted as sand got in them.

" _Fuck me…"_ I thought before closing my eyes and trying to stand. It was only then that I realized that a good chunk of my body was still missing.

Like my left arm,

And a couple of my legs…

I had only recovered 10% of my max HP after all, and my chakra was nonexistent so I waited for a single minute before I activated **Mystical Healing.** In about a minute or so later, I was able to feel my limbs again.

My body still felt like shit as I stood up and sand cascaded down my body. I spit some out of my mouth before I blinked.

" _Good thing I brought him into the_ _ **ID**_ …"

The area over a kilometer around me was a wasteland. Trees were destroyed, rocks were pulverized, and I was inside a giant crater. I looked around me and quickly found Roshi's mutilated body and while he wasn't as bad in shape as I had been, that wasn't really saying much.

The most frightening part of this entire thing was that even though my attack had taken every single bit of chakra I could have mustered in addition to my passive bonuses to lightning based and energy based attacks, I still would not have been able to kill him in one hit if he was at full capacity. It was only thanks to the fact that he had been injured and therefore slightly weakened that his attack didn't kill me instabtaneously and I managed to trap and bring him here with me.

My **Lightning Bomb** technique should have had a raw damage value of over **500,000** **HP** with the passive bonuses, however, Roshi's **Durability** was immense enough to shave off a great deal of that damage. Additionally, based on his stats and level, he was a **Tier 7A** which reduced the damage from my attack by a factor of **1.26**. The only reason I took the small amount of damage that I did was because it was my chakra in the technique in the first place so it naturally caused much less damage to me.

I still died though.

Thankfully, I had remembered that perk I had gotten all those years ago after I had absorbed the Giant Komodo Dragon's chakra core. If not, I would never have considered this suicidal plan.

I sighed and focused on the matter in front of me. Since I needed proof of capture I pulled out a kunai and lopped off his head before storing it in a scroll.

I looked around once more before looking down at my chest which was fully healed as no scars remained. " _ **Gamer's Body**_ … _I figured that was how it worked but still."_

Any normal individual would have died instantaneously if they had a lava coated arm rammed straight through their chest, but it seemed like really did have the body of a game character. Damage was only calculated by how much energy was contained in the attack and not where the attack hit me.

I shook my head and prepared to leave before I paused in thought. I was at the bottom of a crater inside an **ID** so considering that I appeared in the same place outside the **ID** that I was inside one, would I appear underground? I decided not to risk finding myself buried over a 1000 feet under and scaled the height of the crater in a single leap and at the plateau of my jump when I was above the crater…

" _ **ID: Escape**_ "

* * *

 _ **Kotoe POV**_

* * *

" _No…"_

I looked around to see if it was just me and if I was in some kind of enemy genjutsu or if everyone else had seen what I saw. However, seeing the genuine confusion in the rest of the squad's actions, I figured that it wasn't just me.

" _But that can't be…"_

He couldn't be dead…

He had to be fine…

My brain knew it was impossible for him to survive, but I couldn't accept that he had just left me…

Just like that.

I took deep breaths to calm myself down, however, my body wouldn't stop trembling.

My eyes were getting blurry

"What exactly happened? Does anyone know where our target is?" I heard Lion voice his confusion. It was a fair question, however there was only confusion among the rest of our shinobi as they simply looked around somewhat lost as to what to do.

"Fine then." Lion said before signaling to the 4 shinobi maintaining the **Four Violet Flames Formation** causing them to dispel it. "I can't even say if we have completed our objective or not without proof of completion, but we have overstayed our welcome. Any moment enemy reinforcements will arrive so we might as well move now."

I hurriedly looked around for any sign of Yoru. " _Where exactly did you go?"_

He had simply vanished with the target meaning that he must have done something and that he may be alright.

I could only comfort myself with these thoughts.

"Dove!" A voice said behinds me.

I turned around to face Wolf who looked at me searchingly before looking around the battlefield. "What's wrong? Where's the kid?"

I shuddered "…I don't know."

She paused and took off her mask before hugging me. "I don't know what is going on, but you need to relax. You're shaking."

"Boar." Lion shouted before continuing. "We need to hurry and move before Iwa returns with more than we can handle."

Boar looked his way, "Lion, what exactly happened?"

"I'll explain along the way, but we really need to mov-"

Immediately before he could complete that sentence, a small figure suddenly appeared in front of him before landing on the ground.

Lion had been already half-way through attacking at what he no doubt assumed was an enemy before he paused. "The hell? Squirrel?"

Squirrel blinked before turning around "Yes Captain?"

The man narrowed his eyes before looking at Dove who had been frozen in place.

She suddenly moved and in a blink of an eye, Squirrel was in her embrace.

Convinced that he wasn't dealing with an imposter, Lion placed his weapon down. "I would love to know what the hell just happened, but we need to move immediately!"

Boar nodded and looked at me and the rest of the crew before motioning with his head to follow.

With everything settled, we quickly vanished from the area while making sure to leave deliberate, but believable, chakra trails for our enemies to follow.

I looked towards Yoru and noticed his current state. His mask had been destroyed earlier and his shirt/flak jacket was currently nonexistent which wasn't a surprise seeing as he had been stabbed through the chest with lava.

By all means, he should not have been alive, but I knew his chakra signature like the back of my hand. There was no way I could think of that this was an imposter.

I wanted to saw a lot I wanted to say and do to him, however, this was neither the time nor place for me to do so and that wasn't even mentioning the fact that I was emotionally drained and didn't have the energy to do anything to him right now.

I always had this feeling that there were still a lot of things about him that I still didn't know. " _but…"_ I thought to myself before focusing ahead. " _As long as he's alright, it doesn't matter."_

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **If you guys are curious about the perk, it showed up briefly in chapter 5. It was after Yoru absorbed the chakra core.**

 **DaBurntWaffle: For starters, there's nothing to really farm in IDs so doing so would be pointless and I kind of made that evident when Yoru was complaining about how he doesn't really get drops from them (it is astronomically rare.) Next, how is his healing an inconsistency? If you mean to say it's broken then I guess I understand, but he's not invincible if that's what you think. Finally, the Tier stuff had been something I planned on implementing form the beginning and has nothing to do with dampening his skills nor do I see how it does so.**

 **The-Funeral-Pyre: That was kind of what I was getting at when I said the Second Hokage was "stronger". The volume of water he would be able to directly gather from the atmosphere is much more than what Yoru would be able to and would be a more viable attack method for him. Of course, Yoru could improve with training and I never said he wouldn't, I was just saying that at that moment, he couldnt compare to Tobirama nor would it have been the most viable method of attack for him. I will admit though that I did get them mixed up a bit.**

 **Anyway, I hope this was fun for you all. Till next time.**


	16. Chapter 16

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like reading fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Author's Note: _sigh_ , I have no idea how many times I rewrote this chapter, but I was never able to get it to feel the way I wanted it to. I'll 100% understand if this chap isn't the most well received I've had, but whatever. Next week will be better (to me at least.)**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

 **Gamer's Body**

It was my unique innate ability that was the main reason for my rapid growth and accelerated healing factor. However, that was not all.

What made this ability unique was that every injury my body took was converted to some level of "damage" regardless of where I was attacked. My **HP** was just a measuring tool that denoted how much punishment I could take before my body could no longer support itself or regenerate.

I figured that factors such as the strength behind the attack, the amount of energy contained within the attack and a few other things were what contributed to the levels of damage I took. Normal human weak points like my heart and lungs did not seem to really factor into how much damage an attack could inflict upon me, or at the very least, they didn't factor in _too_ much.

But then that really begged the question.

What exactly was I?

"We're getting close to The Land of Lightning. We'll hang around there for a bit before making our way back home. Dove?" Lion asked.

My teacher focused for a moment before nodding. "A couple of the clones I left behind sensed them heading our way. I think we've got them hooked."

"Good." He said before signaling us to stop. "We have about half an hour ahead of Iwa and with our traps a little more than that. We'll stop here for a moment. Catch your breath and tend to your wounds." He ended before glancing at me for a moment.

I sighed and dropped to the ground as the rest of the Anbu did so as well.

I could sense that most of them were exhausted.

I could see that a good majority were injured.

And I knew that there were less Anbu here now than what we had started with.

"As team captain, it is a necessity that I know the capabilities of each member of my squad so that I can draft the most optimal plan for any mission." Lion began as he stood across from me, arms crossed.

"Lion." Boar began as he walked beside him. "What is the meaning of this."

Panther, the last of the three squad captains, stood to the side and looked at Lion questioningly.

Some of the Anbu were just sitting around.

Others were treating their wounds.

All of them were definitely paying attention to what was going on here.

Lion looked at me. "That is a question I would like to ask him. What the hell happened during the battle with the Jinchuuriki? With the **Four Violet Flames Formation** up, the only possible way you could have vanished like that was if you used some kind of space-time technique."

Startlement and surprise were the emotions I felt emanating from the surrounding Anbu, though they hid them perfectly as they continued to act as if they hadn't heard anything. I could understand the surprise, after all, creating or mastering a spacetime technique was quite a huge deal. These techniques represented more avenues to piece through enemy lines and catch them defenseless.

They were feared as well.

If someone would just teleport past all your traps, guards, and defenses and kill you, wouldn't you just die with injustice?

Finally, they were hard to learn and even harder to create.

Very _hard_.

"If I had been briefed about the fact that you could vanish with the enemy like that, I could have planned a more appropriate course of action that would have reduced the amount casualties on our end." Lion explained, his irritation slightly rising. "It's understandable that you wouldn't want your technique to be known. However, you should know that you wouldn't have had to worry about it being spread or talked about, yet you withheld something that could have helped us immensely."

I looked down and bit my lip.

What he was saying was completely truthful.

With Danzo's **Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal** on everyone's tongue, no one would have been able to speak of my ability to unauthorized personnel. The chances of it leaking would have been astronomically small especially considering that I was in the Root division of Konoha's Anbu. The people here would suffer through the worst torture in order to keep information about our village confidential.

Danzo took a _lot_ of steps to ensure the Leaf's secrecy.

I understood that.

Yet, I kept this ability of mine a secret even though many more of our shinobi could have been saved if I had made either the Hokage and/or Danzo aware of my ability.

Was it wrong of me to have kept it hidden?

I _severely_ doubted that anyone would have been able to replicate it and even if they could, **ID Create** was still spacetime ninjutsu of sorts which meant that it should be difficult to learn.

Besides that, this technique wasn't something I was particularly afraid of being known for. After all, Minato's **Flying Raijin** was arguably just as frightening as he could easily implant his seal formula on an enemy shinobi and teleport to them right in the center of their village.

Granted, the other villages probably screened their shinobi for something like that since Minato's **Flying Raijin** was quite well known, but what could they _really_ do to stop him from teleporting everywhere? What would anyone have been able to do to _me_ if they found out about **ID**?

It was not like the other villages had a Fuuinjutsu master skilled enough to place a spacetime blockade around their village.

The best case scenario, if I had told the Hokage or Danzo about my ability, would have been that no one outside of authorized and trusted individuals would ever find out about it and the fact that I have it.

The worst-case scenario would be that the entire shinobi world learns about my **ID Create** skill and plasters my head with the highest bounty imaginable in fear of me assassinating them. With my **Empathy** and **Energy Resonance** , even if I was caught in a trap, I would see it from kilometers away and would be able to use that very skill to run away.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I really didn't have a reason _not_ to have told Hiruzen at the very least. We could have used my **ID** , traveled to the heart of the camp, left my **ID** , assassinated Roshi before he could wake up, and that would have been it.

It might not have been that easy, but the casualties would undoubtedly have been much less. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do to change what had already happened.

"…I have no excuses."

Lion looked at me for a moment and took a deep breath. "What has happened has already happened and cannot be changed even with space-time ninjutsu." He said, before asking. "At the very least, did you complete the mission?"

I nodded my head and gently thrust my hand forward, ripples appearing in space as my hand went inside my **Inventory**. I ignored the surprise since, at this point, I didn't care if they saw me use my inventory. If anything, I would just say that this and the **ID** were the same skill. It's not like **Inventory** was revolutionary as this place already had things like seal scrolls which, while not as good, worked well enough. With that done, I tossed the scroll to Lion who deftly caught it with one hand.

He opened it ran his chakra through the scroll before in a _puff_ , Roshi's head appeared. After confirming that it was the real deal, he put the head back into the storage scroll. "At least you completed the objective." He said while keeping the scroll on his person. He looked and nodded at both Panther and Boar before looking at the surrounding Anbu, "We don't want to loiter here too long or else we will have to deal with Kumo as well. Rest up for 1 more minute then we'll get a move on."

His piece said, he walked away.

Panther followed suit after glancing my way for a moment.

Boar nodded at me before going to do his own thing.

And then, it was just me.

I couldn't help the sigh that escaped my lips as I turned around and walked towards my teacher who was leaning against a tree, looking at me with a serious countenance.

I stopped in front of her and wondered what I should-

My head whipped to the side as a stinging sensation appeared on my cheek.

I blinked. "…ow."

"That was for disobeying my orders and almost getting yourself killed in the process." She said.

I rubbed my cheek, idly wondering what she would have done if she found out that I had actually died…

She kneeled down to my eye level and removed my hand from my cheek before leaning forward and placing her lips against it. "That was for coming back safely."

" _Maybe I should do stupidly suicidal things more often…"_

"I'm sorry for worrying you." I said. "I just didn't want to risk anything happening to you."

She sighed and ran her fingers through my hair. "And I don't want anything to happen to _you_. Promise me…" she said as she placed her hands on either side of my cheeks and forced me to look at her. "That you won't carelessly risk your life like that."

"I'll try."

She narrowed her eyes and pinched my cheeks.

 _Really hard_.

"…ow…it hurts…please stop."

She huffed and let go of me before stating, "Put on some clothes at the very least. You shouldn't be walking around so exposed. We're about to leave."

I blinked and looked down, noting that I was practically naked. The only reason I didn't notice this earlier was because I was used to using **Henge** tor my clothing. The technique in and of itself allowed me to copy the appearance of another person, including their height and clothing, so it was simple to just form clothing on my body. Of course said clothing had practically no defensive purposes and required a constant input of chakra to maintain, and therefore they felt like air.

Anyways, I simply utilized my inventory to instant-equip some more of my Anbu gear.

Yep, I could do that.

My teacher raised a brow at me, "How did you…?"

"Spacetime ninjutsu."

She looked at me blankly for a moment before looking away and commenting, "…You're bullshit."

"Language."

I was flicked in the head.

 _Hard_

" _Why…"_

"Alright let's continue moving!" Lion stated as he stood up, the rest of us following suit.

* * *

The path we took led us into The Land of Lightning's territory where we slowly began to remove our chakra trails before turning around and heading back towards the Southwest direction where Konoha was. With my teacher's help, we were able to avoid enemy detection quite easily and made it back home with few complications.

It was past midnight by the time we arrived and used one of our many hidden entrances throughout the village. It took a relatively short period of time for us to eventually meet with Danzo who awaited there quietly.

Lion stepped up, along with Boar and Panther, with the scroll in hand, before speaking, "Our mission was a success. The enemy was on our trail till we arrived at Kumo before we hid them and returned back." Saying so, he passed it to Danzo.

Danzo turned his lone eye to the stroll and picked it up before nodding his head, "You've all done well. With your success, you all have paved a path towards Konoha's victory in this war. With this, your work is complete. You're all dismissed."

"Yes, Lord Danzo!"

With that, the Anbu split up to go their separate ways. Lion, however, stayed back and whispered to Danzo about my skill, which I could hear perfectly with my enhanced hearing. For a moment he motioned in my direction, Danzo following his line of sight and nodding.

With that, Lion bowed and vanished.

" _Tsk, snitch."_

"Squirrel." Danzo called.

Before I moved forward, I felt Kotoe place a hand on my head and rub it before she vanished.

I walked towards the bandaged man and stood in front of him.

His eye stared down at me expressionlessly, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"…I have no excuse." I replied with my head kept down.

We stayed in silence.

"There's no need for you to stand on ceremony." Danzo said causing me to look up.

"Your **Mystical Healing** has saved the village from countless casualties and has increased our force by over a thousand from the restoration of the previously handicapped shinobi." Danzo said as he looked at me. "You have already given more than what this village could ask for with no rewards. All I want to know is if that skill is transferable."

I blinked in subtle shock at his words as I had thought he would have made me spill. Only a moment later did the words he had asked fully register and I replied, "It's an innate ability…I suppose it could be counted at a **Kekkei Genkai** , after all, I've been able to do this for as long as I could remember."

 **Lie Successful!**

What was I supposed to say? That a higher dimensional being decided to give me a book that taught me how to create pocket dimensions? I didn't quite think something like that would sit well. Besides, I sincerely doubted I could teach someone **ID Create** since I myself didn't know how it fully worked even though I could use it, so by that definition, it was kind of like an innate ability.

It wasn't a _complete_ lie.

Danzo nodded at my words, seemingly satisfied and relieved. "Then that's fine." He said before asking. "To be truthful, for the amount you have benefited the village, I feel that it is only right that you get something for your dedication. Speak if you have something in mind."

I closed my eyes.

To be honest, I actually did want something and it had been something that had been on my mind for a long period of time now.

I kind of wanted to leave Root.

I'd been here for years already and while I gained a _lot_ of experience as a shinobi and in addition to harsh training I most likely wouldn't have received in the academy, I just wasn't keen on being here anymore. It wasn't that I had become afraid of Root or anything ( **Gamer's Mind** wouldn't let me), but I was just a bit fed up with the constant missions I had been sent to.

I wanted a little more time to myself and to the few people I cared about.

Root would suck away that time easily.

I still wanted to be a shinobi though since that was the only way I would be able to make money.

Well, not the _only_ way as I could sell Fuuinjutsu pieces, but it was the best way for me.

However, I didn't want to leave my teacher behind.

If I hadn't been around, even if she didn't die, she would have been severely wounded and while thanks to my **Mystical Healing** such a thing wasn't a _huge_ deal, I would prefer it never occurred in the first place. I doubted, however, that Danzo would let her go since she was an extremely adept sensor.

I just wanted to keep her in as little trouble as possible…

"Excuse my request if it is too excessive." I began.

Danzo looked at me with a raised brow and motioned for me to continue.

"I would like to be relieved of my duties in Root." I began before quickly elaborating. "I will still be a shinobi of the Village and will still go on missions that are asked if me, but I want the option to decline them. Additionally, I'd like to take up my own missions if possible."

"Doable." Danzo said. "However, you must accept at least 75% of the missions that you otherwise would have done as a Root shinobi."

This was probably the best deal I could get and it worked fine by me. As long as I could say no to fighting another Jinchuuriki, I was perfectly fine.

So I nodded.

But I didn't leave immediately.

Danzo narrowed his eyes, however, as I stayed rooted in place, "Speak what else is on your mind."

"I…" I paused and contemplated my words before sighing. "During this mission, my teacher almost died. I understand that it is a shinobi's duty to die for their village…" I personally wasn't quite keen on doing that though, but I digress. "…but she is a great asset to the village and sending her in such a perilous mission in the future would be detrimental to us if we lost her."

Another round of silence.

"Then, what are you suggesting?" Danzo asked slowly.

I paused for a moment before replying, "I hope that you provide her with missions that don't involve fighting individuals on the levels of Jinchuuriki. Additionally, I would like to be notified of any mission you give her so that I might partake in it."

If I wasn't going to be in Root anymore then I obviously wouldn't be on my teacher's team and therefore would get every mission she did. With this, I could do what I could to keep her safe. It may seem stalkerish, but I had slept in the same bed with her for over 4 years.

This was nothing.

"Even if you hadn't asked." Danzo began. "I would have done so."

Eh?

"The situation at Kannabi bridge would have been very dangerous if the 4-Tailed Jinchuuriki had entered the fray." Danzo explained. "I had gathered all of my available force just to make that threat a non-issue. Kannabi bridge needed to be destroyed or this war would drag on longer than necessary. I truly would have preferred not to place her in this situation as her skills are invaluable, however, I had to do whatever was necessary and use all my troops."

"Oh…" well, at least I didn't have to worry too much.

Then, I suddenly blinked in shock as I looked up at Danzo.

I wasn't sure if I was able to keep my surprise in check.

He was _smiling_.

 _Danzo_ was _smiling_.

This was the second time I had ever seen him display a fragment of emotion and it was truly weird.

"That young women found a good seed." Danzo whispered with a smile before looking my way and tapping his cane on the ground. "Your requests are reasonable and I have considered them. You're dismissed."

Before I could even say anything else, he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

I really couldn't understand him...

With that, I too used that technique to vanish from my spot and appear in front of the door to my teacher's apartment. Before I even knocked on the door-

"Come in Yoru."

Sensor and all that.

I opened the door to see my teacher laying on the couch in her living room and closed it behind me.

"What brings you all the way over here?" She asked as she stretched her limbs.

"I live next door." Legitimately right across the hall from her.

She blinked, "Ohh yeah, that's right." She then chuckled, "Is that it though?"

I shook my head, "I left Root."

She froze.

"Of course, as I'm now a freelance shinobi of the Leaf, I have the option of picking my own missions. Additionally, I'll still go on all the missions you go on. I'll still be by your side."

She looked at me for a moment before motioning for me to come forward to which I obliged.

Suddenly, I felt her grip my wrist tightly before she pulled me into her embrace.

"It's already late." She said as she lay on the couch, still holding on to me tightly. "So I'm going to sleep."

She didn't leave room for argument as she closed her eyes.

I blinked.

" _Well, at least her chest is comfortable…"_

I sighed and internally shook my head.

I took a deep breath and focused within myself.

With that, my eyes closed as I drifted off…

* * *

 _I slowly opened my eyes only to witness darkness around me. The only visible light source was the "tree" constellation in the distance made up of green "stars" or crystals, which glowed in an intricate pattern reminiscent of the foliage of an Ash tree._

 _I looked below the foliage and noted that the tree constellation had a "trunk" and "roots" which glowed like a galaxy. Additionally, in the center of the tree's "trunk" was a hole so dark it seemed to devour everything around it, yet it was contained within the tree._

 _And then I felt a pull._

 _My eyes hardened as my body was yanked away from its previous position and pulled towards the gaping hole of the tree. The green "stars" suddenly elongated before vanishing behind me as if I had traveled at warp speeds._

 _Before I could contemplate any further, the black hole appeared closer in front of me before it encompassed my view…_

 _I blinked once as I adjusted to the sudden addition of light before my eyes widened._

 _It was as if I was in a whole new world._

 _Around me were an innumerable amount of blue screens, each depicting rows and rows of complicated code. I couldn't even begin to understand what was being written on them, but I could absolutely understand that this was the work of immense brilliance._

" _ **Why thank you."**_

 _That voice…_

 _I turned around._

 _In front of my view was a man who had definitely not been here just a moment prior._

 _He looked exactly like I did: Silver hair, brown skin, similar height._

 _The only difference was in our eyes was that while mine were silver, his were golden and vertically slitted as before._

 _My doppelgänger pointed behind me._ " _ **Why don't you take a seat?"**_

 _I blinked and turned around, now noticing a chair which had definitely not been behind me before. That being said, I still sat down with my twin following suit as a chair suddenly appeared behind him._

" _ **I know you have plenty to ask me."**_ _He stated._ " _ **I'll try to ignore your mind while you ask questions, so don't hold back. Do note though that there are a few things that you won't understand even if I told them to you."**_

 _Where did I even start?_

 _There was so much I wanted to ask him about every since I had met him all those years ago._

 _I paused before asking the most relevant question to mind. "Who or what are you really?"_

" _ **I'm a snake."**_ _He said_

 _I blinked. "…What?"_

" _ **You asked me what I was and I told you."**_

" _How…" I stopped and looked at him carefully."…What?"_

 _My intelligence was definitely showing._

 _My counterpart chuckled._ " _ **I only appear this way because you wouldn't even be able to comprehend my true form just as you cannot comprehend a 4-, 5-, 6-, etc. Dimensional existence. Of course, I exist outside the concept of dimensional planes so that's a moot point."**_

"…"

" _ **Oh."**_ _He began._ " _ **I also like to eat what you would call Universes. Though there are higher tiers of them such as Multiverses and Hyperverses. I prefer to eat Hyperverses though."**_

 _Hyperverses?_

" _ **Ahh, they are 'multiverses' in the general term but I call them that because they are 12-Dimensional realities and above. I like the Infinite Dimensional ones though, they have a variety of flavor."**_

"…"

" _ **Don't worry though, I won't eat your world and I don't plan on eating for some time. I actually haven't eaten in a…"**_ _He paused in thought for a moment._ " _ **Actually, the concept of time is irrelevant to me so I couldn't really explain to you how long…Let's just say a**_ **really** _ **long time."**_

"…"

 _I decided that for the sake of my mental health, I'd simply try not to think about this past minute too much._

 _So, I asked a different question._

" _What am I?"_

 _He paused and thought for a moment as if wondering how to word his answer._ " _ **The simplest answer would be that you're human in all the ways that matter."**_

" _All the ways that matter?" I asked back._

" _ **I'll put it this way, what exactly makes a human a human? Is it their genome? Then what about those with large genetic mutations? Is it their looks? Then what if an alien looked exactly like a human? Is it a Status you are simply born with? Then what about the very first 'humans'? Where they not simply a product of evolution from the first unicellular microbe till now? Are they not also humans? When did the term human apply to humans?"**_

 _I took in his words._

 _I could somewhat understand what he was trying to explain to me._

" _ **You can be considered a different breed of 'human', but at the same time, you simply cannot be classified as such. You are better in every way with potential that can allow you to reach unfathomable heights."**_

 _I stayed silent at that and closed my eyes for a moment._

" _I see…"_

 _I didn't feel any different from knowing this._

 _But at least I knew._

" … _What exactly is my purpose then? Why the Gamer ability? Why do I even exist?"_

 _He hummed._ " _ **Well that's up to you, isn't it? The Gamer is simply a tool to help you track your progress throughout your journey and of course to help you stay alive."**_ _He leaned back into his chair before continuing._ " _ **If you want your life to have some meaning, well, it'll be up to you to find it."**_

 _That told me absolutely nothing._

 _He simply smiled._

 _I opened my eyes and focused on the other things that had caught my attention and asked the second most prominent thing in mind. "What is that 'tree' outside? Those green 'stars' that make up the foliage…What exactly are they?"_

 _ **J**_ _snapped his fingers in reply causing a large screen to appear in front of us._

 _Depicted on it was the complete view of the 'tree'. The green glowing 'stars' made up its foliage and were akin to its leaves while its trunk and branches glittered with small white lights similar to those of a galaxy._

" _ **The Tree of Genesis."**_

 _I blinked._

 _That name meant absolutely nothing to me._

' _ **J'**_ _explained._ " _ **It was here before the concept of space and time existed and will be here till the concept of eternity ceases to exist."**_

 _I really couldn't comprehend what that meant about the tree, but I nodded nonetheless. "I see…and what does it do?"_

 _Suddenly, the picture of the screen magnified towards the glowing 'stars' which were, in fact, the crystals that hung off the tree which acted as leaves. Suddenly, the screen stopped zooming as it focused on one crystal in particular,_

 _The glittering green crystal depicted a scene I was quite familiar with._

 _18 individuals (and 3 cats?) were holding their hands in a circle and above them towered a large dark dragon. The beast's wings unfurled before it took a deep breath, Energy coalescing within its gaping maw._

 _With nothing to stop it, it unleashed a breath of immense power towards the individuals, obliterating the island they were on._

" _ **That is one of the infinite worlds that the Tree Contains."**_ _J explained as he looked back towards me._ " _ **Every concept of fiction is contained on the branches of the tree as 'leaves' or those crystals. Each one depicts entire worlds and stories."**_

 _What?_

" _ **Every world and story that has ever been conceptualized exists within the tree. It contains an infinite number of infinitely layered worlds with infinite possibilities and impossibilities. It is a boundless existence and all that you truly see of the Tree is only the surface of what your mind is able to comprehend."**_

 _I literally could not understand that, so I opted to simply nod at his explanation._

" _ **Once in a while, I snack on a few of its 'leaves' though…Does that make me vegetarian?"**_

"…"

 _Wait._

" _Don't other people exist in those worlds? Doesn't that mean…"_

 _ **J**_ _tilted his head at me,_ " _ **Do you know how many microbes are on the apples you eat? Do you care?"**_

 _I paused._

 _So to him, living creatures were mere microbes…_

" _ **Yes and no."**_ _He replied._

" _I thought you weren't going to read my thoughts…"_

" _ **I can read your thoughts whether I want to or not and I wanted to correct you."**_ _He replied._ " _ **The only living creatures that exist as microbes in my eyes are Hyperverse level beings or those of**_ _ **Tier 1B**_ _ **. Any creature below that is non-existent to me."**_

 _Wait, Tier 1B?_

 _What type of individual would you have to be to see Tier 1B individuals as nothing more than microbes? I couldn't even comprehend how strong you would have to be._

 _Minato was around 6C which meant he would level Islands with his strength._

 _What could someone above 1B do?_

 _At that moment,_ _ **J**_ _raised up his hands before a display appeared in front of him._ " _ **I can only tell you and not show you, afterall, it would be too dangerous otherwise."**_

* * *

 _ **Tier: 1A**_

 _ **Level: Irrelevant**_

 _ **AP: Outerversal**_

 _ **SPD: Irrelevant**_

 _ **STR: Outerversal**_

 _ **SS: Irrelevant**_

 _ **DUR: Outerversal**_

 _ **INT: Incalculable**_

* * *

 _What…_

 _What did that even mean…?_

" _ **Now as I was explaining." J**_ _continued, swiping the screen away and ignoring my dumbfoundedness. "_ _ **Any creature below 1B is non-existent to me but of course there are some exceptions. Individuals who have created their own multiverse that are intertwined with the Tree have my attention which usually means those of Tier 2C and above might barely register as existing beings in my eyes. Only if they decide to intertwine their world with the tree of course."**_

"…"

 _Was he not going to explain what his status mean?_

 _What the hell was Outerversal?_

 _And an Irrelevant Level?!_

" _ **Of course, you're also the other exception."**_

 _I looked at him blankly "…I'm filled with joy."_

" _ **Now back on the topic of the various worlds, I would caution you to be wary."**_ _He continued in a tone of severity, one which I hadn't expected to come from him._ " _ **There are a very, very, small amount of creatures/beings who transcend the concept of dimensions and exist beyond all time and space and could be considered**_ **Boundless** … _ **They are the lords of their own fictional realities which are intertwined with the Tree but are not an actual part of it. They are neither good nor bad nor do they care about beings who still exist within the concept of dimensional planes, but you will not want to meet them regardless. If I was to rate them, they would be**_ _ **Tier 0**_ _ **. I could put up a fight with the help of the tree, but then we'd probably destroy every concept of reality…"**_

 _My heart nearly stopped at that._

 _I took a deep breath and rubbed my temples_ _ **Gamer's Mind**_ _allowing me to function at near optimal cognitive capacity. I decided that I really didn't want to know anymore so I focused on something else, "Then those worlds…Could I somehow…go there?"_

" _ **Of course you can."**_ _He replied._ " _ **As long as you reach Level 100, you'll have an opportunity to visit those worlds."**_

 _Ping!_

* * *

 _ **Quest Alert!**_

 _ **To Infinity, and Beyond!**_

 _ **The worlds on the Tree of Origin are vast and boundless with infinite possibilities and impossibilities. There is so much to explore and see, but you have to earn that chance.**_

 _ **Reach Level 100.**_

 _ **Reward: System Update**_

 _ **Failure: The only way you could possibly fail is if you died.**_

* * *

 _The only option was for me to accept._

 _So I did._

 _I looked down in thought._

 _Another question had suddenly surfaced in my mind._

"… _When I first accessed this place years ago, I saw a crystal of my homeworld, but in it depicted the Nine-tails' rampage…What was that about? Was it the past or future? What would have happened if I had touched that screen?"_

" _ **Alternate reality."**_

 _I perked up._

 _My look-alike continued to explain._ " _ **Every branch of the Tree contains innumerable crystal 'leaves' which represent alternate realities of an original world. The closer the leaves are to the tip of the branch, the more similar they are to the original world. Each branch represents the connection between these similar worlds or alternate realities."**_

 _So that world I had seen was simply an alternate reality._

 _The crystal it had been shown on was huge so it must have been a work very close to, if not actually being, the original. It made me wonder what had happened in that world, but there was nothing I could really do so I didn't dwell on it._

 _This place though._

 _These worlds had new things…_

 _People…_

 _Places…_

 _Stories…_

 _One day when I was ready, I would explore them and find something worthwhile for myself…_

 _There was simply so much new and overwhelming information. A Tree that contained an infinite number of higher dimensional and lower dimensional worlds? Branches that contained alternate realities of a singular world? A crystal that contained a world? And all of this I could simply access whenever?_

 _I closed my eyes and sighed. This entire journey, this entire trip here, the time I spent in this place…it gave me a lot to think about._

" _Thank you." I said as I stood up and bowed._

 _There were a few more things that I wanted to ask him about, but with the amount of information I had just received, I felt like I needed to digest it for a moment._

 _There were an infinite number of worlds…_

 _Infinite possibilities…_

" _How do I leave?" I suddenly asked._

 _In the past, I had usually been yanked out either because_ _ **J**_ _had kicked me out or because I hadn't leveled up_ _ **Meditation**_ _to level_ _ **100**_ _and simply haven't been ready to stay here for a prolonged period. Now, however, it seemed like I could._

" _ **Just think it."**_ _He replied._

 _I nodded and closed my eyes in concentration. I focused on escaping this place and in but a moment, I felt a hard tug._

 _My body was yanked away from its position at immense speeds as I suddenly exited the "tree" and flew back far enough that I could see the entirety of its outline._

 _My body was hurtled through the dark void of my inner soul…_

* * *

 **Congratulations! [Meditation] has leveled up by 1!**

 **Meditation (Active) Lvl 100 MAX.**

 **Passively increase INT by 200%.**

 **Passively increase WIS by 200%.**

 **Passively increase ENGY by 200%**

 **HP and CP regeneration increase by 1000% when active.**

I slowly opened my eyes…

My teacher was already gone and I was there alone on the couch with a blanket covering me.

I turned to the side and found a note on the living room table which I promptly opened. I scanned it, realizing that Kotoe had decided to to take the day off and go to the orphanage.

I folded it up and removed the blanket before walking outside my teacher's apartment.

My gaze turned ahead, noting that the sun was high in the sky and judging from its position, it was pretty early in the day.

My gaze then turned downward, my visual senses noticing that the streets below were covered by a thick blanket of snow.

I could see little children frolicking around, oblivious to the notion that they could become sick by playing in such a frigid environment.

I narrowed my eyes in thought…

What could I do today…

Usually, when I wasn't on a mission I would train with my **Restriction Seals** , or in my **ID** , or try to come up with a new Fuuinjutsu project to work on…

" _Speaking of Fuuinjutsu, I can work on_ _ **Amenotokotachi**_ _later on…"_

Before any of that, however.

"What is it Mouse?"

A figure landed next to me.

"Lord Hokage has informed me that Lady Tsunade has requested to meet you at Konoha Hospital."

I turned to face him before nodding, "I see. I'll be there in a minute."

Mouse nodded before vanishing in a burst of speed.

" _Well, it looks like I found something to do for a little while…"_

With that thought, I concentrated for a moment before using the Body Flicker to suddenly appear in front of Konoha hospital.

I felt for Tsunade's chakra for a moment before I quickly found her.

The security of this place was very severe mainly due to the war but also because of the Fuuinjutsu seal I had manufactured some time ago. As a result, as soon as I showed the guards my identification, I was immediately let in.

The ability to restore limbs and heal all wounds to their prime?

All the other villages would probably start focusing on Konoha, more specifically, our hospital and medical staff. There was already word spreading about my seal which was to be expected. Who knew how many people had suddenly regrown their limbs? And who knew how many low key spies were around the village?

The other villages definitely knew about us, however, Sand was our ally and Water Country was going through some tough times ever since that mission I had gone on some time ago.

That only left the Hidden Stone Village and Lightning country. With the success of yesterday's mission, Iwa would no doubt begin to slowly put pressure on Lightning. Additionally, if we were able to cut off their supply line at Kannabi bridge, Konoha would secure its victory over Iwa.

Lightning always had some sort of beef with Konoha and took any chance they could to harass us, but if Iwa began to put pressure on them, we wouldn't have to worry too much on that front.

With those thoughts, I arrived in front of a guarded door to what lead to one of the much larger rooms of Konoha Hospital. I once again flashed my identification which allowed me access to the room.

The first thing I noticed as I stepped inside the room was a large, highly complex, 4 cornered Fuuinjutsu inscription on the floor. At each corner were 2 medical ninjas; one of which sat on the point of the Four-cornered seal and the other stood behind them.

At the center of the seal lay a broken and severely bruised form of a man while at the head of the seal sat a young woman who seemed to be leading the operation.

I carefully looked at all four corners of the square seal before narrowing my eyes as I noticed a young girl, no older than 12-13, sitting on one of the corners. She was a fair-skinned girl of average height for her age and slender build. She had onyx eyes and straight, shoulder-length, jet-black hair with bangs that covered her ears and framed her face.

I watched as she worked while also not slowing down the other medical ninja as they worked meticulously to stabilize the injured individual who was in the center of the formation. I could feel her precise control over her chakra as she steadily inputted it into the seal while also matching the rates of input of the other medical ninja.

"What do you think of her?"

Tsunade asked beside me.

I leaned against the wall of the room while slipping my hands in my pockets. "What is going on here?"

Tsunade looked at me for a moment before returning her gaze back towards the proceedings. "That square formation-"

"I'm aware of what it is." I replied before she could finish. "What I'm curious about is why you are using the **Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique** when I've already provided **Mystical Healing**."

The **Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique** …

I had taken no small amount of influence from it when creating my own technique.

Tsunade scoffed, "This was how severe and often debilitating wounds used to be healed, but more importantly, it required precise chakra control and teamwork between the medical ninja involved. So far I had only chosen Medical ninja whose control and overall capabilities had allowed them to execute this technique to perfection."

I nodded in understanding. "So you are testing to see if that little girl has the skill necessary for my technique? What happens if she makes a mistake."

She looked at me in amusement, "you speak as if you're much older than her." Saying so, she returned her gaze back ahead, "I believe my apprentice is sufficiently prepared and I have sufficient confidence in her that I know she won't make a mistake. If she does, however, I am right here to make sure everything goes smoothly."

I nodded before continuing to focus on the healing ahead. I watched as the injured shinobi's wounds were ever so slowly closing. The missing sections of his body were being filled with an agglomeration of his own cells as they were perfectly replicated and fixed into his wounds.

I paid careful attention to the girl's chakra flow as she contributed to the formation. It was steady will very little fluctuation, though it was not perfect. If I had to say, I would a **CC** rating of around 88-90%.

After a long period of time with the medical shinobi switching in and out of the rotation, the man's wounds eventually became fully closed.

"Alright, you've all done well." Tsunade stated as the medics panted from exhaustion.

The lead nurse slightly inclined her head, "thank you lady Tsunade." She then paused before looking at me. "This is…?"

"Your evaluator." Tsunade replied with a smile.

I blinked " _evaluator?"_

"Evaluator?" The head nurse asked in confusion.

"Exactly." Tsunade replied before looking at me. "He's an extremely adept sensor and can give you an accurate percentage level of your chakra control."

"That's incredible…" the woman replied with the other medic behind her shadowing her wonder.

" _Ahh, so that's what she wants…"_

Whenever Tsunade had first introduced me to the medical ninja that she had picked out to obtain my seal, I had utilized my sensing capabilities to gauge their level of control. My chakra sensing capabilities were quite unique in that while they currently had a much shorter range than my teacher's, they allowed me to glean much more information about the energy flow of individuals in general.

I nodded my head at Tsunade before concentrating for a moment. While I hadn't been paying explicit attention to their chakra as they were doing the procedure, I had still felt and remembered how it flowed.

I looked at all 9 medical ninjas who had participated in the procedure before looking at the head nurse.

"90%"

She blinked. "I suppose that's good?"

"Very." I replied. "Your control is phenomenal."

She smiled heartedly before I moved on to the next individual,

"88%"

The man blinked, "Is that…?"

"Very much above average. You have good control."

He bowed before I moved on again.

"88%"

And again

"87%"

And again

"87%"

And again

"89%"

And continued on…

"87%"

"88%"

Before I stopped at the last individual, the young girl that Tsunade had wanted me to look after.

She looked at me straight in the eyes with no visible trace of hesitation before she suddenly blushed and looked down.

I was beginning to think that my charms mainly worked on people my age. Either that or I had been hanging around people who were either too used to my adorable visage and/or were seasoned killers who weren't too easily swayed.

Wait, what was I thinking?

I internally shook my head.

"Your name…?"

She blinked at my sudden question before straightening up. "S-Shizune!"

I nodded. "89%. Your control is very high."

By the way, Tsunade had around 95% control.

Her eyes widened before she cheerfully nodded. "Thank you!"

I looked back at Tsunade who clapped her hands. "Alright everyone, take a break. I'll take over from here."

"Thank you Lady Tsunade!" They chorused before leaving the room.

"Except for you Shizune." The blonde called out.

Shizune paused before heading back and stood next to her teacher. "Yes, Lady Tsunade?"

The older woman smiled and placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder before looking my way, "Don't you think she's qualified?"

Shizune looked between me and Tsunade in confusion before her eyes widened and she suddenly flushed, "Lady Tsunade I'm still very young…"

"That's not what I meant!" Tsunade exclaimed. "Jeez, what goes on through your mind."

Shizune blushed heatedly before shaking her head and asking. "Then what…?"

"You want me to give my seal to her?" I asked as I looked carefully at Shizune. "I suppose she has enough control but is she really qualified to know about its origin?"

"Humph, of course she is, who do you think I am?" The Sannin asked rhetorically. "She's my apprentice and a loyal shinobi. As long as I say it, she's qualified."

I raised a brow. "Whatever you say, but any consequences that arise from this will be shouldered by you."

She simply waved me off, "Whatever, the old man will understand. Just do it already."

I shrugged and stepped forward towards Shizune before asking, "Tell me, what type of design do you want? Something inconspicuous like Lady Tsunade's diamond or something more colorful."

Shizune blinked multiple times before looking back and forth between me and Tsunade, "I don't really understand what's going on…"

"My sudden ability to regrow limbs and heal the most debilitating injuries." Tsunade began as she looked towards her apprentice. "Where do you think I obtained it?"

"Of course you developed it on your own!" Shizune started with utmost confidence. "You're well regarded as the world's best medical ninja. Who else but you could develop such a unique medical technique? Wait! Are you about to teach it to me?!" She concluded with stars in her eyes.

Tsunade's eye twitched as her cheeks turned slightly crimson from embarrassment before she turned her head away. "I didn't develop it, he did." She finished, pointing at me.

Shizune's eyes widened dramatically. "W-What? H-how could that be…?" She looked back and forth between Tsunade's embarrassed face and my annoyed one. "He's younger than me! How could he possibly come up with such a thing?"

"Seals." I said simply. "I have a formula that does something that I don't feel like explaining. All you need to know it that when you activate it while using the **Mystic Palm Technique** , you'll regrow limbs. Now what design do you want and where?"

It seemed like all the reverie she had suddenly evaporated as she just stood there dully.

"Just give her a flower or something and place it on her thighs" Tsunade suggested.

"…May I ask why the design and placement choice?"

Tsunade rubbed her chin, "I think it will give her some charm for when she grows older…"

I raised both my brows and decided that I quite honestly didn't care. I turned back towards Shizune who was still deflated and poked her right thigh with my index finger before inscribing the seal on it. Countless lines of script appeared on her body before they coalesced at my finger and formed an intricate flower design.

"There, all set."

Shizune awoke from her stupor and looked at her thigh before pausing. "It looks…good."

"Your welcome." I replied before looking back as Tsunade, "Well, is there anything else you need from me?"

"Nothing much really." Tsunade said with a shrug, "Feel free to go anytime. I'll call you when I need you."

I rolled my eyes and made to leave.

Women.

"Wait!" Shizune yelled, stopping me in my tracks. "What's your name?"

I turned back towards her, "Yoru."

She said my name a couple of times to herself before she nodded with a smile and blushed, "Alright then Yoru. Thank you!"

I nodded and walked back outside before exiting the building.

Now, the next thing on my list was to collect Roshi's bounty, so I sent a clone out to do just that for me.

" _Hmm, now I really have nothing to do…"_ I thought as I rubbed my chin.

" _I suppose I can start working on my other project…"_

With that thought, I looked around for a moment before shaking my head and deciding to Body Flicker to the training grounds. With that, I simply thought to myself…

" _ **ID Create: Empty"**_

A bubble began to spread around me before encompassing the area I was in. The sky turned red, the wind stopped blowing, and the sound all but disappeared as the Instant Dungeon fully formed.

" _Now then, it's time for experiments…"_

I created a few clones to help me with said experiments as I focused on myself. I felt the flow of my chakra and it's many different natures before I opened the palm of my hand.

Balls of fire, lightning, earth, water, and wind floated on the palm of my hands in a circle. I had absolutely perfect control of my chakra and its natures.

As I mixed my water and wind nature's, a chill filled the air.

" _ **Ice Release**_ _."_

Next, I combined fire and earth, a smoldering heat emanating from my hands as a ball of lava floated on my palms.

" _ **Lava Release**_ _."_

I could also get **Boil Release** and **Scorch Release** if I wanted.

There was one other Kekkei Genkai I had been trying to replicate, though a frown marred my face every time I thought of it.

Water and earth…

The ground beneath me trembled as immense power welled up from beneath the soil.

The energy coursing through the earth built up to such proportions that I almost felt overwhelmed by it all!

The earth cracked, and up from the opening came...

...

...

...

...

...

 _Mud._

My water and earth release had come together to form **Mud Release**...

Seriously.

All there was in front of me was a pile of mud.

What the hell was _Mud_ release?

Who the hell had ever heard of such a thing?

I could use _earth_ style techniques that acted as mud.

Who would want an entire kekkei Genkai of it?

I wanted to hurt something, but who could I blame?

There seemed to be something missing from my ability to recreate **Wood Release** , but I couldn't tell what.

I sighed and dropped the slab of mud before focusing on the other difficult problem I had run into recently.

 **Magnet Release**.

It was very unique…

I concentrated on the ground beneath me and snuffed out the fire, water, and lightning attributes. Next, I combined both my wind and earth natured chakra before raising my hand.

The ground began to tremble ever so slightly before a hand made of sand started to slowly form from the ground and grow as I raised mine. In just a moment, however, it crumbled and fell apart.

I was not discouraged as I took out a bunch of kunai from my inventory and focused on my earth and wind chakra while also trying to apply a little bit of lightning natured chakra to it as well. I picked up a kunai and injected the two chakra natures plus the supplemental lightning chakra into it before slowly lowering the weapon towards the other kunais on the ground.

The kunai in my hand came close to the ones in the ground before finally making contact.

Nothing happened.

I furrowed my brows. " _They still don't attract…"_

 **Magnet Release** …

It was definitely something I wanted to create.

To begin, I knew for a fact that it was possible to create certain Kekkei Genkai and knew specifically that **Magnet Release** was one such "bloodline limit".

Or at least, one facet of it was.

While reading up on Kekkei Genkai in order to recreate some, I had found some interesting information about **Magnet Release**.

For one, there were actually two styles of **Magnet Release** : The Sand style magnet release and the Cloud style magnet release.

The main difference between them was obvious.

One came about from Sunagakure

The other from Kumogakure

But the differences were much more than that.

The One-tailed beast of the Hidden Sand Village was able to control fine particles of sand. From all the information I had read up on about it in addition to my own testing, I had found out that it couldn't control sand from earth release alone. Earth natured chakra was designed to control large solid constructs and lacked the fine control necessary to effectively manipulate rocks much smaller than gravel.

Therefore, the only way the sand raccoon could control such small particles was through magnet release chakra.

Suna, being one of the weaker hidden villages due to their location, had wanted more military might so they researched the abilities that manifested in each of Shukaku's hosts so that non-jinchuuriki could replicate them. From what I had found, they had been more or less successful in producing individuals with " **Magnet Release** ", however it was actually somewhat limited.

On the other hand, The land of Lightning's **Magnet release** had come about when the Yotsuki Clan had made their home in the Valley of Clouds and Lightning for generations. The mountainous region had been subject to powerful magnetic fields, and over time their chakra had adapted to those magnetic fields and eventually developed into a new Kekkei Genkai.

The Cloud Style Magnet Release differed from Sand Style in mainly due to the fact that it simulated magnetic forces more accurately.

With my access to Konoha's informational archives, I had found out that Suna's **Magnet Release** superficially resembled real magnetic forces as the chakra fields generated by this bloodline granted direct control over any kind of mineral. However, due to the artificial nature of this bloodline, users had to learn through intense training how to attune their chakra to the unique atomic structure of each element of metal/mineral they wished to be able to manipulate.

While all transition metals could fall under its influence, with the difficulty of "learning" multiple metals; the unsuitability of many metals to combat usage; and the relative scarcity of most metals, it was most appropriate to simply choose a particularly hard metal to specialize in such as iron and gold.

The Third Kazekage had gotten famous through his use of iron sand.

On the other hand, Lightning country's Yotsuki clan could only control ferromagnetic metals, however, they did not need to attune to those metals through extensive training. Furthermore, they could also use their magnetic chakra fields to generate real non-chakra based electrical currents through the principle of electromagnetic induction, which could then be incorporated into Lightning Release ninjutsu to greatly increase their speed and power.

Even with all this knowledge, I had a hard time replicating their specific type of **Magnet Release**. Controlling stuff like sand or iron sand was great, but if I could obtain and develop the Yotsuki clan's **Magnet Release** abilities as well…

With those self-encouraging thoughts, I continued my work and sat there in silence as I thought about what I could do to perfect my Kekkei Genkai…

I took out a scroll and some ink before jotting down notes of my experiments.

* * *

 _ **May 24**_

 _It's obvious that elemental Kekkei Genkai have a strong biological component, however, whatever genetic processes drive their creation might be artificially replicated in an individual with high affinities for those elements._

* * *

I paused and thought for a moment.

I had **Eidetic Memory** and actually had no need to write stuff down, however…

I simply liked doing so.

It made me feel like I was actually doing something significant.

" _Maybe I should get into research more often? Knowledge is harder to obtain than strength after all…"_

I tapped my chin with my ink pen before a clone of mine popped and gave me more information about the ratio of energy he used, the timing of his fusion, and his execution.

I jotted down those notes before sighing.

Since Kekkei Genkai had such a biological component, I might have to meet up with Orochimaru at some point…

" _One step at a time."_

I had been working on this project for some time and had only managed to produce small results. Rushing wouldn't help so the only thing I could do now was wait and do more research into the subject.

" _I'll be able to figure out something eventually…"_

With that, I put my materials away and pulled out a different scroll that contained notes about my other project.

 **Amenotokotachi (Heaven)**

When I'd taken a look at Minato's notes a few years back, I'd begun to work on improving my knowledge of spacetime seals.

I wanted to create a technique based off of the **Flying Raijin** while not just making a copy. In order to do this, I decided to tackle Minato's technique from a different angle.

That's when I thought of **Amenotokotachi**.

What if instead of marking something and teleporting to the marked area, I could mark multiple things and swap places of the marked objects. I had initially thought of teleporting object to me instead of teleporting to objects, but I found that such an ability would have less battle function. Swapping the places of any two marked targets, however, could be applied in many more ways during battle.

Of course, there was still a lot of research and practice that I had to do, especially since spacetime seals were quite dangerous. As long as I was in my **ID** , however, I think I'd be able to prevent the worst from happening.

" _Besides…"_ I felt like I _needed_ to complete this technique. I had a foreboding feeling that I would need this ability in the near future.

I wasn't going to take any chances.

So, I continued my research.

* * *

 **Yeah, I wasn't sure how I felt about Yoru's interaction with the Hyperdimensional entity, but I'm putting it out there and whatever happens, happens.**

 **Hope that last part didn't feel too information heavy.**

 **Reference:**

. 2015/08/30/magnet-release/amp/

 **Plagiarism is bad folks.**

 **Don't do it.**


	17. Chapter 17

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for over 1k followers and 1k Favorites! I'm glad that so many of you have followed and supported my story thus far! Now, let's get those reviews up to 1k as well.**

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

* * *

 _ **Minato's POV**_

 _ **2 days after Yoru's Mission**_

* * *

" _I wish I had been there sooner…"_

I looked down at the destroyed bridge and at Kakashi who was staring off into the distance. Besides me stood Rin as she looked on ahead towards the rising sun.

I had completed the mission.

But at a cost.

I had lost a comrade and a student but more importantly, I had failed to save someone close to me.

With that, I closed my eyes for a moment, standing still as the wind rustled my hair…before I opened them.

"Kakashi, Rin, let's go home. Our mission is complete."

Kakashi stood in silence for a moment before nodding and appearing next to me. His expression was empty and devoid of emotion, but I knew that he was going through mental torment.

But worse than him…

I looked towards Rin whose expression was serene, yet I could tell.

She was in the most pain.

" _And they had been getting closer too…"_

I placed a hand in both their shoulders before concentrating on my other beacons. I had left plenty of my Hiraishin marks in and around certain places, few of which were located near Konoha.

With that, I quickly located it's signal and vanished from my spot.

We appeared right next to the entrance of the village and walked through Konoha's gates after checking with the guards. I looked towards my two students before commenting "You two should get some rest. I'll go notify the Hokage that our mission has been completed."

Without words, they nodded and walked off leaving me alone to make my way towards the Hokage's office.

" _At least for now, the war will be mostly over…"_

With the losses Rock Country had suffered in addition to the loss of their major supply line (among others), they would have no choice but to withdraw from the war. It would take a few more years before it would be completely over, so I would have to keep vigilant for now.

" _And make sure that I don't lose another one of them…"_

I halted my steps and looked ahead at the Hokage building before entering inside. I walked through the halls and up the steps of the building before stopping in front of the door to the Hokage's office.

I stood there for a moment before releasing a breath and knocking on the door.

"Enter."

I nodded and opened the door before closing it behind me as I entered. I watched as the Hokage looked at the papers in his hands with an expression of immense gravity. His face was marred with a disturbed frown as he read and flipped through the papers before he sighed and placed them down.

He looked up from his papers before finally noticing who I was. As soon as he did, his expression became somewhat more lax but retained its severity due to the subject that he knew I was here to discuss. "Ah Minato, to be back this early…I take it that your mission went well?"

"Yes Lord Hokage." I said with a short bow. "However…" I paused for a moment before releasing another breath. "My student, Obito Uchiha died in combat and as a parting gift he granted Kakashi Hatake his Sharingan."

There was silence at that statement as the Hokage leaned back into his chair. He looked up to the ceiling and closed his eyes for a moment before sighing, "I'm sorry for your loss."

I shook my head. "It was my fault I didn't make it in time. I will have to live with this failure."

The Hokage looked at me before commenting, "There's no point in dwelling on what you could have done, but instead you should focus on what you can do better next time."

I nodded my head in agreement.

"I will schedule a memorial service in a couple weeks for those who gave their life for the future of this village. Your student deserves to be honored as the hero he was." The Hokage began, before exhaustion creeped into his tone. "But besides that, thank you for giving me another issue to deal with. A non-Uchiha with the Sharingan won't go over well with the Uchiha clan."

I managed to crack a half-hearted smile. "There's nothing I could have done regardless, it was Obito's parting gift. Besides, I believe that you can convince Fugaku to have his clan let it go, he's quite reasonable."

"Let's hope so." Hiruzen stated before he looked back down at his papers and a grimace reformed on his face.

I raised a brow. "May I ask what's wrong Lord Hokage?"

"No, it's just…" The Hokage flipped through his papers once more before sighing in exhaustion.

He seemed to be doing that more often.

He looked back at his papers before explaining. "Recently there have been a few of our shinobi who have gone missing. While that normally would not have brought about any of my suspicion due to our current state of war, all the missing individuals shared something in common." His eyes narrowed. "They all had Bloodline Limits."

I furrowed my brows. "Do you think this is an enemy attempt at producing more bloodlines within their village?" It wasn't unheard of at all and was something that unfortunately occurred quite frequently.

Hiruzen slowly shook his head. "I initially thought the same except that the situation was much more complex than I had imagined." He brought up one of the papers to eye level before continuing. "The disappearances had prompted me to send out a few groups to investigate and that was when I was made aware of secret laboratories that experimented with the **Chimera Technique**."

I thought about that for a moment. " **Chimera Technique**?"

The old Hokage nodded. "I suppose you'll have to deal with it in the future, so I suppose I should tell you now."

I paused at that statement. " _Deal with it in the future?"_

The Hokage continued. "My shinobi had found some disturbing laboratories around Fire Country many years ago. It was there that they found not only the remains of some of our missing personnel, but also the corpses of grotesque beasts." He tapped his desk as he looked at the papers. "From all the findings and research papers that could be gathered in those labs, it was concluded that someone had been experimenting with a technique that would grant them the kekkei Genkai of other ninja by fusing their bodies."

" _This…"_ I thought in seriousness. "Have you found any leads as to who is responsible? And what of the findings." To be honest, this sounded like something Orochimaru would do, but I knew that even he wouldn't use Konoha shinobi for his experiments. Besides, last I heard he had been too busy playing with Yoru's healing seal for his research.

The Hokage rubbed his brows. "At that time, I had already declared the technique a kinjutsu and had destroyed most of its information. Recently, however, another laboratory was discovered with experiments of the same technique. It appeared to me that the same individual who had been responsible for the disappearances many years ago was still scourging while we had been preoccupied with the war." The Hokage sighed in exhaustion before continuing. "I had all the material collected and allowed Orochimaru to do an autopsy on the deceased shinobi and the abominations that were found in this most recent lab. As for who was responsible…" here he paused. "An individual by the name of Hiruko, currently a missing-nin of Konoha."

" _Hiruko?"_ The name rung a very dull bell in my mind. " _Where have I heard that name mentioned before…"_

"At any rate." Hiruzen continued. "I've been having trouble locating him and with the war still ongoing, I can't afford to divert any more attention. The best I can do is exercise more caution when my shinobi are out in the field. Make sure you do the same."

I suppose this was one of those situations you simply couldn't do much about, not until all the other situations were dealt with.

"I will." I replied

The Hokage then gathered the papers in a beat pile and placed them to the side before interlacing his fingers as he stared at me. The mood turned oddly serious as he asked, "Before you go, I would like to ask that you humor me with this question of mine."

I blinked before nodding. "Alright…"

The old man then asked. "Tell me, what do you believe is the Hokage's duty."

I halted at that question. My mind traveled back to just yesterday.

The day I had failed to protect my student.

"I believe that the duty of the Hokage is to keep Konoha safe, lead it to prosperity, and always keep its best interests at heart, but most importantly…" I looked down and gripped my fist. "The Hokage's duty is to cherish, guide, and protect its future generation, no matter the cost."

The Hokage hummed at that before a smile made its way onto his face, "Interesting…I like your answer. You may leave if you wish."

I nodded and bowed. "Thank you, Lord Hokage."

And with that, I left the room.

I made my way down and out of the Hokage's building before teleporting to my house. I placed my hand on the security pad before I was allowed access to the house. Numerous thoughts went through my mind as I made my way to the living room…

"Welcome home Papa~!"

I paused and looked at the owner of the voice before smiling. "I'm glad to be home, Mito."

She smiled brightly in reply before a floating mass of water, in the shape of a teddy bear, suddenly appeared in front of her face. Her eyes brightened as she reached out and squeezed the water bear in her embrace.

"I take it your mission went well?" An all too familiar voice blandly asked.

I looked at Yoru who was behind my daughter and was creating more water animals for my daughter to play with.

At his question, however, I paused for a moment. "…We were able to complete the objective, but we suffered a casualty."

Yoru halted his movements before staring at me. "The way you say that…what happened?"

I sat down on the couch. "We lost Obito."

I was met with silence.

Yoru idly sat on the ground and maneuvered his water creations as he played with Mito, his eyes somewhat unfocused.

It was only after a while that he finally spoke. "I see."

I looked at him carefully.

I couldn't read him.

He rarely displayed emotion, making it impossible to understand what was going on in his mind most of the time. I assumed that he was feeling something at this moment though. I just couldn't tell what.

"In a few days, we'll have a memorial for him and those who died in this war." I stated, managing to grab his attention. "I was hoping I might see you there."

The boy nodded. "Of course."

And with that, we lapsed into another round of silence.

" _Man he makes things awkward…"_

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

 _ **[Yoru's POV]**_

I walked out of Minato's home.

I paused in my step as I tried to figure out which direction I wanted to go before I decided I didn't really care too much.

So I walked.

And then, I sighed. " _Can't believe you got yourself killed…"_

It felt kind of weird to me.

I had not suffered the loss of anyone even somewhat close to me during the course of this war, yet just as it was about to end…

Granted we weren't _that_ close…

I would never admit it even if we were.

" _He definitely made his girl upset too…even after all I taught him."_

If anything, I had thought that I would be the first to hit the bucket in this war from the number of suicidal missions I undertook. Actually, I _did_ die, for a short moment, not too long ago.

" _However, I'm still alive now…"_

With that, I continued my walk.

My feet guided me to wherever they decided to go as I traversed through the village, the activities a blur behind me.

And then.

I stopped.

I looked in front of me, realizing that I had arrived at the training grounds that team Minato frequented.

And I wasn't alone.

Up ahead was the back of Rin's form as she stared off into the distance, the melancholy emanating from her wholly salient. There was a slight breeze that rustled through us and made her hair wave through the wind.

There was a simple silence between us for a while and I wondered if I should leave…

"You know…" she suddenly began. "While he was often stubborn, argued with Kakashi, and more often than not got himself into trouble, he was also compassionate, dedicated and hardworking…"

She stood there in silence for a moment as a whirlwind of emotions passed through her.

"At that time, when he was dying, I couldn't do anything but stay by his side. After that, Kakashi was the one to save me and again I couldn't do anything. And when we were outnumbered and surrounded by the enemy, it was my teacher who came to save me, and again I was useless…"

She then paused before turning around. "But in the end, there's nothing I can do about what's already happened and I can't remain sad forever because I know Obito would want us all to smile." Saying so, she beamed at me. "That's why I'll simply try harder to never be a burden and to help the best I can!"

I looked at her blandly.

I didn't know what to say or do.

So I simply remained silent.

"I'm sorry if I came off a little intense…" Rin started while scratching her cheek. "That was more for me, but I hope you didn't mind."

I shook my head.

"Is that so? Then I'm glad!" She said with a smile once more before turning back. "It's about time I get back to my place, so I'll head out." She then slightly turned her head towards me. "Thanks for listening Yoru."

With her final words, she quickly vanished from view.

I stared at the direction she vanished to before continuing my walk, however this time, I had a destination in mind. Obito's grandmother would come to know about this, but the thought of having to deliver this news to her…

I shook my head before continuing my walk towards the Uchiha clan district. As I arrived closer to my destination, however, I halted my steps and furrowed my brows. " _I can't sense her chakra anywhere inside the compound…"_

The woman was old and rarely went out, so it was odd to not feel her specific signature inside. I figured that she might have simply gone out shopping or something so I decided to simply meet her at her home and wait for her to come back.

With that thought, I moved closer to the gates before the guards came into view. One of them looked my way and paused for a moment before a smile made its way on his face.

"Yo! How's it going Yoru?"

"…Haruki." I began. "Like usual I suppose."

A slight frown made its way onto his face. "You sure? You sound more dead than usual…and I didn't think that was possible."

"…I'm just thinking about some things is all."

He didn't seem 100% convinced but he smiled regardless. "Well, don't let it bring you down kiddo." He then motioned to his partner to open the gate before turning back to me. "Well, enjoy your visit."

I nodded in thanks before heading into the clan compound and making my way towards Obito's home. Some people spared me a glance before looking away, others gave me a nod of acknowledgment to which I returned, and the rest didn't bother to look my way.

It all didn't matter as I eventually arrived at the relatively small apartment that Obito lived in with his grandmother. I couldn't sense her chakra inside so I simply leaned against the side of the door for a while-

"Hey, you!"

I lifted my head and turned towards the sound of the voice noting a woman who was making her way towards me. As she saw my face, however, she paused. "Yoru?"

I looked at her. I didn't know who she was but it didn't surprise me that she knew of me since I frequented this area a decent amount and my face was somewhat well known. With this in mind, I nodded.

She looked behind me at the apartment before she sighed. "If you're waiting for the owner of the house then you'll be waiting here forever."

I stilled.

She looked back towards me and continued. "Last night the woman who owned this home died of age-related complications." She then shook her head. "She lived through 3 wars till the ripe old age of 70, I'd say she lived a full life."

My mind however was elsewhere…

"However…" she continued in thought. "I heard she had a grandson that she had been taking care of. Poor kid will be upset when he finds-"

"Thank you for the information." I said simply before walking away.

"Ahh, ok…"

I replied with a nod once more and continued my walk. Yet, I couldn't help but think…

Was life really so…fragile?

Not only had Obito died during his mission, but even his grandmother had passed away as well probably around the same time.

" _I suppose it wasn't unexpected for her to die due to her age, but still…"_

It made me wonder about myself.

Would I die?

Of old age at least, I already knew I could technically die in battle.

I mean, I knew that I was aging, but would I simply stop doing so at a certain point? Did **Gamer's Body** prevent my from dying of old age? These were some of the questions that came to mind, however dwelling on them seemed to be meaningless.

This was something only time would tell.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

The drizzle of water pouring down from the overcast sky paralleled the depressing emotional atmosphere of the surroundings.

The 3rd Great Shinobi war had drastically decreased in intensity with the succession of Minato's mission at Kannabi bridge, Iwa having slowly begun to back off. Despite this, I could sense fiddling joy around me despite this fact as the tombs of those lost in the war stood erect in front of my view. In accordance with the funeral proceedings, I wore a black robe and stood beside Minato and the rest of his team as we silently paid our respects with our eyes closed.

I retracted the zone of my **Empathy** as the over abundance of depression and desolation became unpleasant and simply stood still for as long as the proceedings required.

In about a few hours, the funeral proceedings were completed and the cemetery began to empty as the individuals went on with their lives.

"Thank you for being here, Yoru." Minato stated as he opened his eyes and looked towards me.

I nodded my head.

Rin waved at me with a smile, which I acknowledged, while Kakashi stood stock still, his gaze lingering on a tombstone in particular.

I didn't need to follow his line of sight to know where he was looking at.

"I'll be going home. You all are welcome to stop by." Minato stated as he looked between us.

While Rin immediately nodded in agreement, Kakashi waited for a while before muttering, "…sure."

A nearly imperceptible sigh made its way out of Minato's lips before he turned towards me. "And you?"

I raised my head slightly and looked to my right where Itachi stood stationary, the rest of his clan having already departed.

"…I'll spend my day at Itachi place."

Minato smiled, "Then that's fine." He then looked towards Rin and Kakashi, "Come on, let's go."

Minato then immediately vanished followed by Rin soon after. Kakashi looked ahead for a while longer before following after them.

I looked at the area they had previously occupied before turning back towards Itachi, noting that Orochimaru now stood beside him. With a slightly raised brow, I made my way over to them.

"Ah Yoru! A pleasure to see you here." The pale skinned man stated with an elongated grin.

"…I somehow don't feel the same."

His grin somehow grew even wider, "You know, you've never visited my lab. Trust me when I tell you that the technique you gave me is much more fascinating than I could ever dream of. I believe that you will find it interesting, so do consider paying me a visit."

I turned my gaze up towards him, "I gave it to as payment for obtaining data on my genetic information, something you haven't told me much about."

His eyes gleamed as he licked his lips, "To tell the truth, your DNA is…spectacular, to say the least. If you ever decide to come over, I'll provide you with all the data I have unearthed from your…" his eyes eagerly scanned my body, causing my body to slightly shiver, "…marvelous genetic material."

" _Aaaand I think we're done here."_

I looked to Itachi, who had been giving me questioning looks for some time now, and grabbed his shoulder. "I'll get back to you on that." I stated to Orochimaru before using the Body Flicker.

That man had serious problems.

"How you could stand being next to him for a prolonged period of time is unknown to me." I told Itachi as we arrived in front of the gate to his clan compound.

He raised a brow in return as we walked through the gate, "…You two seemed quite close to me."

An odd twitching overcame my right eye, "Believe me if I didn't need him for something important, I would do my best not to interact with him."

With a tilt of his head, Itachi asked me, "Your DNA? "

"…Yea." I replied with a nod. "I'm trying to figure out what more my body can do."

Itachi blinked in puzzlement, "You have a Bloodline limit?"

"Something like that."

He seemed curious but decided not to ask as we approached his home. We approached the door to his house before he opened it and brought me inside.

"Big brother!" A young voice exclaimed following which enthusiastic footsteps made their way in our direction. Up in front of us appeared the form of a toddler which black hair and onyx eyes which gleamed as they looked towards Itachi.

"…Sasuke."

The boy smiled brightly and ran towards Itachi as quickly as his little feet could carry him…

And then he tripped.

In a burst of wind, Itachi appeared beside Sasuke and grabbed onto the scruff of his clothing before his face made intimate contact with the hardwood floor.

"…This is why mother tells you not to run in the house." Itachi stated with a sigh before pulling Sasuke upright.

Sasuke gave him a sour look at that causing Itachi to smile helplessly, "Come on, don't look at me like that. We tell you these things for your own safety."

"Your big brother is right you know, we wouldn't want you to get hurt." The angelic voice of Mikoto suddenly sounded out from in front of us.

"…Mother." Itachi said as he stood up while patting his little brother's head.

Sasuke smiled once more and wobbled towards her causing the woman to smile and pick him up. She then looked towards both Itachi and me before asking, "Are any of you hungry? I could make something for the both of you if you would like."

"I think we are f-"

"-amished and we would love to help you prepare." I finished for Itachi before he could say anything else.

"Oh?" The beautiful woman stated, placing a hand over her mouth, "Since you're asking so kindly I don't really have a choice do I?" She said with a chuckle. "Well if you don't mind, help me prepare some of the vegetables in the kitchen."

"It would be my pleasure." I stated following which, with that glowing smile on her face, Mikoto made her way back into the kitchen.

There was an awkward silence between me and Itachi following that as I looked ahead. "…Your mom's nice you know?"

The room suddenly felt colder and I slowly rotated my head towards Itachi. His eyes were crimson and had 3 tomoe in each of them as he narrowed them straight at me.

I coughed awkwardly for a moment, "…Well, those vegetables aren't going to prepare themselves you know, let's go help her."

While his Sharingan disappeared, his glare did not lesson but he nodded nonetheless and made his way into the kitchen.

I scratched the back of my head with a smile and followed him inside the kitchen where his mother was watching us warmly. With Sasuke tied around her back she laid out the produce, a cutting board, a large bowl and a knife before Itachi and me before explaining, "Chop them up finely, place the onions, peppers, and tomatoes in the bowl, the garlic to the side, and make sure not to hurt yourself."

Itachi gave his mom an odd look, "…Mother, we are involved in much more dangerous activities during our missions…"

"Ara? Then you won't heed my warning I suppose?" She asked with a hand on her face.

"Well that's not really what I mean-"

"Come on Itachi, you should listen to your mom. She's only saying this to keep you safe-"

Immediately, he whipped his head towards me, his Sharingan blazing and the tomoe in his eyes spinning wildly. I immediately turned my head away from him and looked in front of me at the cooking board, somehow finding it quite interesting at this moment.

Was it mahogany?

Mikoto chuckled in amusement before asking, "Will you two be alright?"

"…Yeah." I said, grabbing the kitchen knife by its hilt and twirling it around for a moment before stopping and raising it to eye level, the blade glistening from the kitchen light. "I've cooked plenty of times on my own or for my teacher. I think I have some skill in the art."

"Then I expect the best from you. Make sure you pay close attention Itachi." She said before lighting up the stove and placing a pot of water on it. "I will step out for a moment but in the meantime, I'll let this heat up." Saying so, she covered the pot and stepped out of the kitchen.

Another round of awkward silence permeated the atmosphere between Itachi and I as I could feel his eyes boring into my skull while I pretended not to notice. Itachi then came closer and stood to the right of me in front of the other cooking board, yet his gaze still lingered on me.

I felt a slight twitch in my right eye before I picked up and inspected a tomato. I carefully placed it down before slowly cutting it vertically. Afterwards, I rotated it 90 degrees and did so once more, providing me with long strips of tomato which I again began to slowly cut into smaller chunks…

"…How long do you plan on staring at me like that." I asked as I _still_ sensed Itachi's piercing gaze on my skin.

Somehow, I could _feel_ his eyes narrow even further, "…who knows? I'm merely following the instructions laid out by my mother."

I rolled my eyes, "come on, it's all in good fun. Your mom is a strong, grown, beautiful woman. She easily brushes me off anyway." Saying so, I grabbed an onion next and tossed it in midair before positioning my knife. My perception of time slowed with **Accelerated Analysis** and as the onion came to my eye level…

I moved.

I whipped out my right hand and rapidly skinned the onion with the kitchen knife. With my perception of time lowered, the pieces of skin seemed to float in mid-air with the onion still at around my eye level. I didn't let that distract me, however, and I moved once more.

To any ordinary individual, it would have looked like my hand moved in an instant and to most shinobi, my hands would have only registered as a blur and they moved at incredible speeds. With every stroke, my kitchen knife made contact with the onion at precise angles. First I cut the onion completely vertically, then I immediately cut it horizontally. Then, as it was barely below my eye level at this point, I cut it into smaller pieces even still.

My perception returned to normal and in my vision, the perfectly diced onion fell into the large bowl, not a single one out of place. With a light smile, I turned to look towards Itachi only to notice that his Sharingan was still active and his eyes were rapidly twitching as if to process information.

In a moment he closed his eyes before they opened in honed focus. His eyes glowing red, he grabbed an onion and tossed it up before his arm blurred. In but a millisecond, he stopped and the onion landed into the bowl with perfectly sliced shapes…

Just like mine.

My right eye twitched, "You didn't…"

He gave me a look bursting with naive innocence yet I could detect the disguised smug look underneath.

"Tch." I stated and grabbed multiple peppers on the side before working my knife once more. I tossed them all up at once and my right hand blurred before the peppers split apart in midair and landed on my board in neat shapes…

I looked to my side only to notice that Itachi had copied my movements precisely as I had been doing them.

My lips twitched as I smiled, "Do you really want to play this game now Itachi?"

"Whatever do you mean?" He asked with a tilt of his head, "I'm merely following my mother's instructions."

"Oh?" I said as my hand tightly gripped the hilt of the knife before I tossed up an assortment of Onions, tomatoes, peppers, and garlic. They were launched in such a way that the first three would perfectly land in the bowl while the last one would land comfortably on my cutting board.

 **Accelerated Analysis**

 **Deconstructive Analysis**

I used these two abilities in conjunction as my concentration peaked to insurmountable levels. Through my glowing silver eyes, time seemed to slow down and I could see small red areas of the fruits and vegetables in the air. I narrowed my eyes and blurred my right hand as I began to chop up the produce.

Suddenly, my eyes sharpened.

I turned to my right for a brief moment only to see that Itachi's eyes were on me as well.

" _Hmph."_ Without looking, I switched the hand wielding the knife incredibly fast and stared right back at Itachi as I continued to cut the vegetables that were in midair. With my **Eidetic Memory** and my incredible processing capabilities courtesy of **Accelerated Analysis** , I knew and remembered the angle, magnitude, and direction with which the vegetables would fall. I likewise calculated how those vector quantities would change in response to my movements, so I did not even need to look in order to cut the vegetables in the precise manner I wanted.

With that, Itachi and I locked eyes as we began to cut all the necessary fruits and vegetables that Mikoto had left out for us. Our hands blurred faster and faster as we perfectly cut up more and more of the produce before our knives began to intermingle and clash briefly against each other.

Sparks began to fly as we turned our bodies and blurred our knives at each other while also making sure to perfectly slice the food. With eyes narrowed, we continued this dance of blades for a long while after, the wind whipping up from the speed of our movements.

Before we stopped.

With a clang, our kitchen knives clashed against each other once more. Time seemed to have halted at that moment before the chopped up provisions suddenly fell. Those that needed to go into bowls landed in the bowls while those that had to go on the side of the cutting board landed perfectly on their position.

Suddenly, a _ding_ sounded out.

"Ah! I came back just in time." Mikoto stayed as she suddenly appeared in the kitchen doorway, Sasuke still attached to her back. She ignored me and Itachi whose knives were still interlocked and walked to the pot before opening the lid. A cloud of steam emerged which quickly dissipated before she spoke, "Now I can finally begin…" she paused.

Both Itachi and I turned to look at her, immediately noting that Mikoto was looking in our direction. Before we could even speak however-

"Oh! You two did wonderful." She explained as she grabbed the bowl of the chopped plants and our cutting board of garlic before placing it beside her.

I looked back at Itachi who blinked in reply and retracted his knife before placing it on the counter. I soon followed suit before I felt a vision on my back and I slowly turned around only to witness Mikoto narrowing her eyes at me. "Hey Yoru…"

I was instantly on guard, "Itachi started it-"

"Do your eyes usually glow?" She asked before relaxing her vision, "They look so adorable!"

I paused and smiled despite myself before deactivating **Deconstructive Analysis** , "Well, they tend to shine in front of beautiful angels."

"Oh my!" She chuckled in response. "Well thank you two for your help. Just rest, for now. I'll prepare something in a moment."

"Thank you for your hospitality." I said with a short bow before I felt a chilling vision penetrating my back. I turned around, noting an odd miasma appearing around Itachi as his eyes shined red, his Sharingan activated in full.

I twitched a smile regardless, "Why do you seem so upset Itachi?" I asked, placing an arm on his shoulder, and walking out of the kitchen. "If you're upset that this competition was a tie, don't be. Someday you might beat me."

He looked me straight in the eye with his bloodline activated "…If you keep hitting on my mom, one of these days you'll find your entire clan dead."

I blinked, "Wow, that's pretty fucked…but I don't have a clan."

Though if I did, I had this odd feeling that he'd do it…

Weird.

"Hmph." He said, deactivating his Sharingan and taking a seat on the tatami floor in front of the dining room table.

As a result, I sat across from him in a seiza position, "Come on don't look at me like that, it's not my fault your mom is so gor-"

He stared at me.

Hard.

I sighed and raised my hands in placation, "Fine fine, I'll stop talking about your mom." I said. "Instead, I wouldn't mind knowing what you and Orochimaru were talking about."

The mood suddenly became depressive.

"I knew he was a pain to talk to but I didn't think it was this bad…" I stated.

Itachi shook his head in disconfirmation, "…No it wasn't something like that." He then lightly sighed, "I just asked him a question that had been on my mind for a while, but…"

I leaned my cheek on my left arm, "I'm not surprised. He probable responded with something dreary and depressing."

He nodded, "The Third Great Shinobi War is at its low point, however at what cost? Did we really even win? So many individuals lost their lives yet still conflict is perpetuating throughout the shinobi world. The funeral today just got me thinking about life in general and its purpose…"

"'There is none'-" I said, before immediately following up, "Or that's what Orochimaru probably said."

Itachi blinked and nodded his head.

I sighed, "Yeah he seems like the guy to give you that answer. I couldn't tell you since I'm only a year and a half older than you, but who knows? You'll come up with your own answer one day." I paused before shaking my head, "There's no point in talking about something so bleak. It just ruins the mood."

"I suppose so." Itachi said with a smile.

However, internally I sighed. I could sense that he definitely wasn't in the mood for smiling. I raised my head from my hand before I paused as a familiar chakra signature appeared behind the front door. I looked to Itachi who seemed to be lost in thought and stated with a smile, "It looks like your girlfriend is here."

His expression changed, "…What?"

Before he could ask further, a knock sounded from the front door.

"Itachi! May you please get that?" Mikoto yelled from the kitchen.

"…Yes, Mother." He stated before looking at me, standing up, walking to the door, and opening it.

"Ah, Itachi!" A cheerful voice stated. "Sorry for intruding, but I saw you looked down earlier so I thought I would drop by."

"…Izumi." Be said quietly, though I could tell he was happier than he let on. "Please come in."

"Thank you!" She said before I heard their footsteps approach the living room area where I was staying.

In but a moment they appeared in view which caused Izumi to pause as she saw me before she smiled, "I didn't think I'd see you here before me. It's good to see you Yoru."

"Likewise." I replied

"Little Izumi!" Mikoto's voice sounded as she made her entrance, delight clearly expressed in her voice. "I'm glad you came over." She continued after embracing Izumi and motioning her towards the tatami May. "Please take a seat. Lunch will be out in just a moment."

"Thank you!" Izumi said before she plopped down next to Itachi with a smile on her face before her face lit up in remembrance. "I remember that I got you something that I knew you'd like, hold on a sec…" Saying so, she opened the bag she was carrying on her side before taking out a small case.

With my enhanced sense of smell, I could tell that it was something sweet and was proven correct when Izumi opened it, revealing many sticks of dumplings. "I know you have a sweet tooth so I figured I would get…you…something…" she trailed off as she noticed the intense look of desire in Itachi's eyes as he stared at the dumplings. His eyes actually began to morph into the Sharingan as if to imprint the food into the deepest recesses of his mind.

Izumi smiled awkwardly, "W-Well, I think we should wait till after we eat the lunch your mother oh so graciously prepared. Don't you think?"

Itachi frowned and seemed to struggle internally for a moment before he nodded, "…I suppose they can wait."

Izumi smiled playfully and softly leaned her head on his shoulder to which an imperceptible smile made it sway on Itachi's lips.

I watched them intently as they vanished into their own world, wondering about my own non-existent love life…

" _Women are sometimes a pain though…"_

I would know seeing as I'd lived with one for over 5 years now. I really couldn't imagine having to live with one for the rest of my life…

Ohh well, I was only 9 so this was quite irrelevant to me at this point anyway, but still…

" _How did Itachi get one before me…?"_

I mean, I suppose it had to do with the fact that I didn't know many individuals my age, to begin with.

But I was more handsome than he was (in my humble opinion).

And definitely more powerful (that was a fact).

Maybe I should go out more?

…Nah, unnecessary human interaction was a pain to deal with.

Besides, Itachi was only _slightly_ less of a recluse than I was and had a cute girl.

How the _hell_ did _that_ happen?

Well, they _did_ meet in the academy...

Maybe I should go there one day...

"Food is ready!" Mikoto exclaimed from the kitchen before she came out with food in hand.

"…let me help you." I said as I got up and helped her set down the food along with the rest that she had left in the kitchen.

"Ahh thank you! You're such a life saver!"

I nodded my head. "Of course."

I noticed, however, that Itachi gave me an odd and suspicious look at my interaction with Mikoto causing me to smirk.

"Now then." Mikoto began, clapping her hands together, "I'm sure you're all famished so don't hold back!"

Izumi smiled before clapping her hands together and closing her eyes, "Thank you for the meal!"

"Thank you for the meal!" The rest of us followed suit.

Mikoto then reached behind herself and pulled out Sasuke from her back before placing him on her lap. "Here you go! Now you can eat with mommy."

Sasuke pouted slightly, "But I wanted to eat with big brother…"

"Ah, he's too cute!" Izumi squealed before looking at Sasuke with glistening eyes. "Why don't you sit next to your big sister here?"

Sasuke gave her a dull look before turning his head away and dismissing her as if she was air.

Izumi blanked.

"Oh dear." Mikoto began, placing a hand on her cheek, "He doesn't seem to like you that much does he?"

Lightning seemed to tear through her heart as she leaned back in shock.

The older woman grinned playfully in response to which Itachi interjected, "We should probably eat before the food gets cold…"

"You're right dear." Mikoto stated before securing Sasuke in place and grabbing onto her chopsticks. She then looked at the rest of us, "Well don't wait for me, dig in!"

I turned my gaze from her and looked at the spread before me before grabbing my disposable chopsticks and breaking them apart. My gaze hovered over the food before concentrating on a dish ahead of me that had caught my attention.

Takoyaki.

I wasted no time in moving my chopsticks towards the multiple delicious octopus balls. They inched closer and closer as my anticipation built up, however, just as I was a centimeter away, a different pair of chopsticks suddenly appeared and took the takoyaki ball that I had been aiming for.

"…"

I slowly rolled my eyeballs upwards to look at the culprit who was slowly chewing the food he had stolen from me with a lazy look.

My eyes narrowed.

My hand zoomed forward with insane velocity its aim positioned towards the Takoyaki. Just as my chopsticks clamped onto the divine goodness of octopus balls, another pair of chopsticks clamped onto mine, preventing me from moving it.

The air coagulated.

"…Itachi, What is the meaning of this?"

He tilted his head innocently. "The meaning…you say? I'm merely digging in as my mother instructed."

Izumi looked between Itachi and me before turning her gaze towards Mikoto. "Um, Mrs. Mikoto…What's going on?"

She sighed. "They tend to turn a lot of things into competitions."

"Should we stop them?" She asked in wonder.

"Let then be." Mikoto said as she began to feed Sasuke. "They're just children after all."

"Go bigfh brofgher!"

"Hey now! Don't talk with your mouth full!" The lady of the house stated reproachfully.

My mind was brought back to its current predicament as Itachi began to exert pressure on his chopsticks, the force of which threatened to crack mine own.

I sharpened my gaze and activated **Deconstructive Analysis** , causing my eyes to glow. With my incredible dexterity, I maneuvered one of my chopsticks back before shooting it forward, aiming it at the weak spot of Itachi's own utensils.

It cracked, causing Itachi's eyes to widen which provided me with a large enough window of opportunity to secure the octopus ball with my wooden sticks. I wasted no time in retrieving the objecting before ingesting it with glee, my gaze filling over as I looked at Itachi imperiously.

Itachi looked down at his broken chopsticks for a moment before he lifted his head, his Sharingan activated, "…You're going to pay for that."

I raised a brow and swallowed my food before replying, "Doubtful."

With that, Itachi procured another pair of chopsticks before immediately motioning his utensil holding hand forward. My eyes widened as I saw that they were aimed toward any beloved Takoyaki, so I dashed forward as well.

Itachi and I both picked up a takoyaki ball before bringing it towards our mouth and eating it. I furrowed my brows before dashing forward once more and procuring another one, but no sooner did Itachi do the same.

I looked at him.

He looked at me.

And we moved.

With immense speeds, we both continued to battle over the takoyaki, taking and eating as many as we could as fast as we could. Our hands blurred as the large stack of delicious balls of goodness started to slowly decrease in size before in a few moments the plate became empty.

Itachi and I paused as we looked at each other before our gaze slowly traveled towards the rice balls.

With one more look at each other, we hurried to procure the fluffy carb filled balls as we competed with each other. The large bowl of rice started to rapidly deflate in size before it too became empty.

" _Next…fish!"_

We moved in unison as we attacked the grilled fish with ferocity causing it to disappear in but a few moments as well.

" _Spring rolls!"_

It didn't take long before those disappeared into my digestive system either.

" _Egg rolls!"_

Those disappeared in a moment.

" _Mixed vegetables!"_

Gone.

" _Kale wrapped beef!"_

Was there even a need to say?

As Itachi and I competed, I idly noted that Mikoto looked at us in amusement as she ate deservedly, while Izumi looked at Itachi and me as if we were foreign animals while absentmindedly eating her food.

Sasuke was jumping around in excitement. "Let's go Itachi-nii!"

The food around the table slowly disappeared before all that was left was the pot of hot green tea. At this junction, Itachi and I came to a compromise as we sat down calmly, our stomachs inflated.

"So? How was it?" Mikoto asked as she looked between the two of us.

"…It was delicious, thanks mother."

"Anything touched by your hands is divine."

Itachi's eyes twitched as he glared at me causing me to slightly smirk.

"Hai, hai." She said with a smile before grabbing the tea pot and serving tea to all the table occupants.

Izumi still had a blank look on her face while Sasuke looked at Itachi in awe. "Big brother you're so awesome!"

Itachi smiled before grabbing his cup.

"Ah Wait!" Izumi stated before bringing out her case of sweets and placing it on the table. "I suppose that since we are now done eating, a little dessert wouldn't hurt."

Saying so, she opened the case, bringing to view the multiple sticks of dango that she had procured. Seeing Itachi's intense look, she shook her head, "No! We'll each get the same amount."

He reluctantly nodded.

"Ah thank you so much little Izumi!" Mikoto stayed as she brought the girl into her bosom. She then whispered, "I can't wait till you're my daughter."

Of course with my enhanced hearing, I could easily pick it up.

The poor young girl slightly flushed red from the statement causing Mikoto to smile.

"Well? Are you going to pass them around?" I asked the browned haired girl who startled herself awake.

"R-right." She said before passing out the snacks around and smiling.

"Thank you." I said before closing my eyes quietly eating the snack.

Suddenly, I whipped out my hand and caught onto a wrist before opening one eye as I chewed the food. With a gulp, I simply stated, "Not today."

Itachi narrowed his eyes at me before retracting his hand, after which I quickly finished off the dango and gulped down the tea.

"Thank you for the meal, Lady Mikoto." I stated before turning to Izumi. "And thank you for the snack."

"Of course." The older woman said with a smile. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Same!" Izumi followed up gleefully.

I nodded my head and stood up, "I can help with clearing up the place if you want."

Mikoto looked over the large table of empty dishes and chuckled, "I would appreciate that."

I looked towards Itachi and motioned at him with my head to which he responded with a nod. With that, we began to clear up the table and brought everything to the kitchen before washing them.

The sink wasn't too large and only had one faucet, but with my water manipulation, I was able to clean up the dishes with Itachi. We worked in silence as we cleared everything up and I could sense that his emotions were much calmer than before.

In a little bit, we were able to clear out all the dishes that had been used, so we made our way back towards the dining room.

There, Mikoto cradled a drowsy Sasuke so she stood up. "I'll refuse myself for some time, the rest of you can keep each other company."

Itachi looked at the before asking, "Mother, I haven't seen father since earlier, could he be…?"

"At a meeting." She replied with a smile. "A lot of things have been going on so he'll be out for a much longer time."

Itachi nodded. "I see."

With that, the Uchiha Mistress made her way out of the dining room leaving the three of us here to interact.

It wasn't too bad as we simply talked about whatever came to mind: from Izumi and me making fun of Itachi's love for sweets; to me making fun of their relationship and to them trying to make fun of me for something.

Too bad the only trait of mine that was worth making fun of was a well-kept secret.

" _No one will ever find out about my infatuation with cute things…"_

Izumi was a dear so there really wasn't anything I could say about her personally.

With that, time began to pass quickly as we talked amongst ourselves before it eventually became dark. I looked outside, noting the beautiful full moon, before standing up. "Thank you for having me over, however, it is getting kind of late."

Itachi nodded, "Thank you for coming over."

Izumi interjected with a grin, "He forgot to say that he enjoys your company and wishes you would come over more often."

Itachi gave her a sour look while I smiled lightly. "We can make arrangements for that another time. For now, I'll head back home."

Itachi stood up and nodded before walking me towards the door.

"…I'll see you another time." he stated.

And I simply replied "Likewise."

So, I walked away from his house and down the road.

After a few moments, I paused and looked up to the starlit skies.

There were a lot of things I wanted to do and my mind was constantly thinking of a variety of things, however…

" _Living in the moment…it's not to bad."_

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Eragon: Noodlehammer is an amazing author and I do not think I would be able to match him if we were to collab. As for your other question, Yoru would become strong I guess lol.**


	18. Chapter 18

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like reading fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **This one is a bit earlier than usual but I hope it finds many people. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

I took a deep breath in…

And exhaled.

With my eyes opened and my mind sharp, I sent my chakra beneath the ground and spread it out. Next, I magnetized the granular mineral I had been searching for before pulling.

I felt a _tug_ with my chakra before a _glitter_ of gold dust erupted from the earth.

Immediately after…

My hold slipped.

The _minuscule_ amount of gold dust crumpled to the ground and lay there while I stood above it in thought. " _As I thought…it's much too difficult to control such fine particles. It's like trying to control every single grain individually. I would need a much faster processing capability in order to achieve that effect as I am now…"_

With the rate that I was improving, even with clones, it would take years for me to tweak and improve upon my Sunagakure Style **Magnet Release** enough that it would be combat applicable. It made sense considering that it had taken the Sand village decades of trial and error to create this style and ingrain it into their DNA.

I lowered my arms with a sigh. I knew that some bloodlines had a strong biological component but I had been hoping that I would be able to create my own soon enough. As reality dictated, nothing worth having came easy and considering the fact that many villages (Konoha included) had spent many more years developing their own Bloodline limits than I had been alive, it stood to reason that I wouldn't be able to perfect it so quickly or easily.

I had an idea of what was wrong, but in order for me to "fix" the issue, I would have to induce a mutation upon my own chakra. Wasn't even sure how I would go about doing that, but I did have an idea of someone who would…

" _I guess I can't avoid him forever…"_

With that thought, I stood up.

I looked around the empty training ground I had been practicing in and walked away.

" _Let's just get this over with."_

I already knew where Orochimaru's lab was so I began my slow and dreary walk over there.

If it wasn't painfully clear, I wasn't quite keen on being near the guy. I mean, his emotions were all so _weird_ and just a bit twisted _._ I could barely understand most of what he was feeling as it was all an odd jumbled mess of screwed up emotions.

" _I'm just going to take my time getting there. Slow and steady wins the race…"_

Any moment I could put off meeting with him (even if I desperately needed to) was welcome.

As my mind delved into those kinds of thoughts, I continued to walk towards the outskirts of the village before I arrived at the **Konoha Impervious Detention Facility**. There I could sense Orochimaru's chakra signature below.

After showing some ID to the guards, I made my way inside the building and walked to the stairs leading down to the Building's lower levels. With my hands against the walls, I flared my chakra a little before a tremble sounded out. The wall shifted before slowly opening up, allowing me access to the extra layer within.

After making sure everything all clear, I stepped inside with the wall closing up behind me. This area wasn't too much a secret, but only authorized personnel could access it which only included shinobi of the Village.

I walked down the long corridor before stopping in front of a steel door near the end of the tunnel. With one more sigh, I knocked.

I waited for a moment for a response before the door clicked and opened a crack. An eye looked at me through the opening in the door and asked, "Can I help you?"

I noted that the voice sounded feminine before replying, "…I'm here to see Lord Orochimaru."

The eye blinked, "Sensei?" The door was then fully opened, allowing me the full view of the person behind. It was a girl with light brown, pupil-less eyes and violet hair styled in a short, spiky, fanned-ponytail. She wore a brown-red t-shirt with bracelets, white-shorts and fishnet leggings.

The girl looked at me up and down before blinking. "What do you want with sensei? He's a little busy at the moment."

I looked at her carefully and noted something _very_ important.

She

Was

"…cute."

She looked at me blankly for a moment before beaming. "Thanks, you too."

And here I was thinking that my charms no longer worked…

Though seeing as I spent the majority of my time around people who saw me on a daily basis, It made sense that they wouldn't be as affected. Either that or they just didn't want to give me the satisfaction…

I decided to focus on the matter at hand, "Yorudan, orphan though you can call me Yoru." I said, sticking out my hand.

"Anko Mitarashi, also orphan." She said, gripping it with a smile. "You can call me the cute and sexy Mistress Anko."

My lips twitched before the first part of what she said registered. "Orphan…"

"It seems like being cute isn't the only thing we have in common." She stated with that ever-present grin on her face.

I think I was beginning to like this girl.

Suddenly, a voice from within the room called out.

"Anko, let the boy in. I've been expecting him for some time."

Anko looked between me and Orochimaru before before fully opening the door. "Welcome in." She said as she stepped to the side.

I nodded and entered the room before taking everything in. Monitors covered the sides of the walls attached to which were tubes that connected to whatever was on the hospital beds below. Cabinets and shelves were littered with vials/beakers containing suspicious fluids while life size tubes filled with a green fluorescent fluid contained within them grotesque animals.

I gazed at the creatures intently, noting how they seemed to be a a fusion of different kinds of animals.

" _Like a Chimera…"_

"Do those interest you as well?"

I stopped staring at the messed up animals at the sound of Orochimaru's voice and turned around towards him, "A little, but they aren't why I'm here."

Orochimaru wore a butchers apron and a pair of long rubber gloves and had a disturbing smile on his face, "I'm quite aware. Do give me a moment." Saying so, he retreated to the corner of his lab and took off his apron and gloves before searching through piles of papers.

"Sooo, how do you two know each other?"

I turned to Anko who was looking at me in intrigue. "I gave him something and as a result, I asked him to help me."

Her eyes widened, "Ohh Wait! You're the guy who can make people regrow limbs?!" She looked at me up and down with a smile, "I thought you'd be older but you're definitely cuter than I had imagined."

I raised a brow, "What exactly did you imagine?"

"A creepy man who spends all his time studying medicine and chakra in a basement alone with corpses all around as test subjects for his cruel experiments." She said without missing a beat.

Wasn't she just basically describing…

"Here is the information you wanted." Orochimaru said from behind me as he handed me a small pile of papers.

I took them before looking at him, "Didn't the Hokage tell you not to let anyone know of my identity? I doubt she has enough clearance to know of me."

"There's no need to be so jumpy." He said with a smile as he walked around me and placed a hand on Anko's head, "This little one is with me so the old man wouldn't mind, besides, she figured it out on her own. I never told her who you were specifically, only that you exist and gave me something."

Anko grinned, "It wasn't that hard to piece together. I watch you all the time you know?"

Looking at those two, I decided not to bother.

With that, I opened the report he had written on my genetic material. With my reading speed, I quickly went through the pages of materials, my eyes rapidly shifting from left to right as I read each page.

"An interesting phenomenon I found about your genetic material." Orochimaru began. "I had been testing to see what you were made of on a Molecular level so I had retrieved some DNA samples from your blood and tried to denature their strands."

He walked over to a microscope, causing me to turn towards him, and he looked within with a smile, "Imagine my surprise when the denatured strands began to adjust to the temperature and rapidly anneal. I had tried to increase the temperature again, but, once more, your DNA quickly stitched itself right back together."

He grinned as he adjusted the scope of his microscope, "I decided that this time I would start at a much higher temperature than necessary with a fresh sample of your blood. I was wholly prepared for your DNA to be destroyed and I wasn't surprised when it had, but…"

His arms trembled with excitement, "Who would have thought that your own DNA could _heal_ itself? This wasn't a body part or a damaged cell but your own _DNA_ reversed the damage that had been done to itself to a. It was fascinating! Do you know what this means?"

He turned towards me, beaming brightly in glee, "If one is able to repair DNA at the cellular level, it's possible to reverse cellular abnormalities and stop not only the progression of skin cancer, but also sun damage, collagen, and elastic damage that causes wrinkles and lines. You would effectively stop aging once your body fully matures…or at least that's my conjecture."

I looked at the documents in thought. I had come across that part of his notes already and didn't quite know how to feel, but then again, I couldn't really feel much anyway.

"But that's not the most interesting thing!" Orochimaru stated. "Remember the first strand of DNA I talked about? The once that had rapidly adapted to the intense heat and had reannealed itself? Well, I wondered if that adaptations could be transferred to fresh DNA samples."

I looked back up in interest.

Orochimaru's grin furthered, "Do you know of bacterial conjugation?"

I had read a lot of Orochimaru's books on biology so I nodded my head. "Conjugation is like bacterial mating where two bacteria temporarily join in order to exchange their genetic information."

Orochimaru smiled. "Correct! Your DNA did something similar when it interacted with fresh samples of your other DNA, except it was obvious very different…I had never seen anything like it."

" _Hmm…"_ It seemed like biological adaptations that occurred in only a single part of my body could be spread to others.

" _Wait…"_

Was that the reason why whenever I gained strength, my entire body gained strength proportionally? Wait did that even make sense? I mean if my body had to adapt to the strain and that adaptation could be passed on, it could makes sense of that. Did it have to be the DNA that was passing on those changes? Or did DNA only pass on adaptations about genetic alterations? Maybe my muscle cells could pass on those changes to other parts of my body proportionally…or something.

"One other thing." Orochimaru said as he moved towards one of the hospital beds and removed the sheets that were covering whatever was underneath.

I looked at it intently. It was a body so deformed that it's gender could no longer be identified. Despite this, I could see the expression of pain and terror on its warped face. "What am I looking at?"

"This one was one of the test subjects I used to see if I could splice your DNA inside of another being-"

I turned towards him with narrowed eyes, "You what?"

"Mah, mah, calm down." Orochimaru said with a grin as he pulled the covers up over the corpse, "I just wanted to see what your odd DNA would do in a completely foreign environment, but I hadn't quite expected this."

He turned towards me. "Your genetic material was very…prideful if I had to say."

At my raised brow, he continued.

"When spliced with another person's cells, it immediately tried to take over the host's body and 'convert' it for lack of a better word, almost as if it found the vessel too weak and unsuitable for its habitation. Unfortunately…" Orochimaru glanced back at the hospital bed, "This rapid and forced change was too much for the subject's body to handle and the result was…Well, I don't have to explain that."

I looked to the bed before asking, "And who was that?"

"Don't worry about that bag of flesh." Orochimaru said dismissively, "We have plenty of prisoners from the war. I won't be running out of test subject anytime soon."

"I see."

I then continued to read through the information that Orochimaru had given me before I reached near the end.

My eyes tightened.

"I see you like that bit of information I gathered?" Orochimaru said as he noticed my expression. "I figured that if I couldn't splice your DNA into another person, maybe I could add someone else's genetic information to your own."

I glanced up from the papers and looked at him.

He grinned, "Your DNA 'chewed up' the foreign material and 'spit' out the rest like they were useless scraps. Its chakra signature also slightly mutated towards that of the foreign Genetic info if your DNA found it useful." His grin then dulled slightly, "Unfortunately, this process seemed to destabilize your genetic information into something less recognizable. If it was to be done on you at this moment, your physical body might change drastically in ways I couldn't understand."

I closed my eyes in thought. "So if I wanted to obtain certain bloodlines…"

"I would advise against it for now, nevertheless…" Orochimaru took a few steps forward and stood in front of one of the incubation tubes that contained one of the grotesque looking animals. "I might be able to fix that issue in the near future."

I turned to look at the tanks as well before commenting. "…What are those? Did you try to splice my DNA with animals or something?"

The Sannin chuckled before shaking his head, "I would never use your DNA on such base creatures. No, these were actually the remains of an experiment that the 3rd Hokage had deemed forbidden many years ago."

"Then should you be telling me about it?"

He shrugged, "Consider this reparations for telling my student about you." He then placed his arms to his side and continued, "The experiment was on a jutsu called the **Chimera Technique** and judging from the experimental data unearthed from it in addition to the corpses of the mutated beasts, a conclusion was drawn that the technique was meant to combine separate living bodies of organisms into one combined organism bearing the original characteristics of all the organisms, and therefore creating a synthetic body, but…"

He looked at the tanks seriously, "All the data collected also pointed to the conclusion that the creator of this technique could integrate the bodies of others with his own, allowing him to obtain any special traits they possessed, such as…"

"Kekkei Genkai." I completed.

Orochimaru looked at me with a nod and continued, "Correct. Based on what I have gathered, the user would be able to absorb the bloodlines of others as well as any other physical traits and their chakra, still…" he narrowed his eyes and looked at the green fluorescent glass tanks, "The technique is not quite complete. The 'absorption' is not at all stable and could cause serious irreversible changes to the body of the individual in question. They would need to have a very unique body capable of handling these immense alterations or else they would not be able to 'digest', for lack of a better term, the absorbed bodies. If not…"

I looked at the messed up Chimera animals and nodded in understanding. "I see…the name is quite fitting."

"It is isn't it?" He stated as he chuckled to himself before continuing, "This technique and your own body's genetic makeup could complement each other like two perfectly fitting puzzle pieces." He smile then disappeared replaced with a gaze of seriousness as he gazed ahead. "Who would have thought that Hiruko would have it in him to create such a mess? I always took him for such a timid harmless child."

I paused and turned towards him questioningly, "You knew the creator of this technique?"

"Yes. You could in fact say we were quite closely acquainted." Orochimaru said with a nod. "Unfortunately, some years ago I and my teammates found out that he had been conducting experiments with this technique in secret. Such a thing could have unknown ramifications, so the Hokage has tasked us with bringing him in for questioning. Hiruko escaped, leaving his research behind which the Hokage promptly destroyed."

I looked at the tanks placidly, "Then these creatures…?"

"He resurfaced again during this war and another lab of his was found. This time the Hokage allowed me to understand what Hiruko was trying to accomplish. If this technique was used, it would be quite difficult to defeat under normal circumstances so I was tasked with finding the weaknesses in it."

My glance turned back to Orochimaru, "And after all is said and done?"

The man frowned in displeasure, "The concept is actually quite sound, even so, the way Hiruko went about it was quite flawed. Too much destabilization could occur to a normal shinobi's body if they tried to absorb the genetic information of multiple individuals. If I was to improve it, I would make it so that I force my information into someone else instead of taking theirs in. Much higher chance of success, especially if all the right conditions are prepared."

I glanced at him for a while causing him to smirk. "Don't worry, If anyone tried to take over your body, it would quite literally kill them. It would be like a parasite trying to infect the sun…It would get burned."

I turned away and looked the data about my blood, "How many copies of this do you have?"

"Only one other."

"Let's keep it that way then." I said before burning the information I had in hand with a simple application of Fire. "Don't for a moment let that other one out of your sight."

Orochimaru grinned, "I wouldn't think about it for the world. You're much too interesting to let out of my sight."

I nodded and turned around only to see Anko standing there with a lollipop in her mouth as she glanced between me and Orochimaru with a raised brow. "What? I couldn't understand most of what you guys were talking about. I just help him move bodies."

" _Whatever…"_ I thought before heading to the door.

"If that's all you wanted, I'll be taking my leave." With that, I opened the door slightly-

"You never did tell me what your second request was?" Orochimaru's voice sounded out.

I paused and partially turned my head towards him, "Once you can figure out how to give me bloodlines without disfiguring or killing me, I'll let you know."

Orochimaru's eyes widened before his lips curled upwards, "It would be my pleasure."

With that, I turned back ahead and walked out the door.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

" _Now then, Now then, what to do…"_ I thought as I left the prison.

A couple of months had gone by since the mission at Kannabi bridge and the 3rd Great Shinobi War was basically over after the peace treaty between Konoha and Iwa had been finalized. With that, (along with the fact that Suna were our allies) there was no longer a "Great Shinobi War", howbeit, aggression between Konoha and Kumo along with some interference from Kiri still existed.

Even if there was no longer a war, that didn't mean that all the fighting in the world had magically ceased to exist. Though, because there was no longer a war, I had been going on less and less missions.

It was fine for a period of time as I had dedicated my newfound free time into training and fuuinjutsu research. Unfortunately, the first one was slow as ever while the second one was a major time sink even with clones. Having multiple clones learn the same thing at the _same_ time did not improve the rate of learning so there was a requirement for them to dispel periodically.

That wouldn't be a problem except it was a nuisance to deal with when I wanted to leave them to do something while I focused on something. The constant influx of memories from their dispelling daily broke my concentration numerous times and was _frustrating_ since I had to then replenish the clone only for the cycle to repeat itself.

Rant aside.

" _I guess I'll contribute to the village's prosperity…"_

With that decision, I made my way towards the Academy. The amount of times I had ever gone to that place could be counted on 1 hand and those were all times that I had met up with Itachi, however, located within the academy was a place called the **Mission Assignment Desk**.

During the war, (and because I was ANBU), my missions had been given to me directly from Danzo and/or the Hokage. They were mostly dangerous missions that required me to work with a large team of other ANBU in order to accomplish or assassination missions against high priority enemy targets.

As a result of this, I had never gone to the **Mission Assignment Desk** where regular shinobi went to receive their missions. Now, though, since I wasn't a part of ROOT (though I still had to take ~75% of the missions Danzo gave me), I had to go to the **Mission Assignment Desk** to get missions and make some cash.

" _And here I am…"_ I thought as I looked at the Academy in front of my view and walked into the building.

" _Now then, if I remember correctly I should be going this way…"_ What was I thinking? I had a perfect memory, of course, I remembered correctly.

With that little bit of narcissism out of the way, I walked down the halls of the building towards my destination, seeing children around the halls along the way.

That would have been fine if that was all, but, whenever I walked down the hall, the students would give me a wide berth and open a path for me like the Red Sea. It didn't help that with my hearing, I could hear their muttering.

"T-That's him…!"

"The white demon of the leaf…"

"Really? He doesn't look too tough to-"

"Shh! Are you nuts?! Remember what happened to Cho's group?!"

"W-Wait that was all him?! He can't be much older than us!"

"Ahh! White Demon-Sama!"

"Over here!"

"Please look my way~!"

"Does anyone even know his name?"

You get the general idea.

I had to walk through this awkward and embarrassing scene.

As for the reason why?

Well, they were in front of me.

A few meters in front of me was a group of 4 kids around my age who were huddled in a group. One of them peeked his head out at the sudden silence surrounding them and looked at me.

His face paled. "U-um, guys!"

"Huh? What is it Atomu." One of the other kids said before he turned to look at me.

His face turned pale as snow. "Fuji! Choki!"

Fuji was already frozen as he looked at me.

Choki stood up straight with his larger than normal 9 year old frame and turned to the guy who had called his name. "Dai, What is it?"

Dai pointed behind Cho causing him to slowly turn his head towards me.

He completely froze. "D-D-"

"DEMON-SAMA!" They chorused as they made way.

" _Please shut up."_ I thought before walking past them and ignoring their antics.

I could feel their fear elevate to intense levels and could smell the cold sweat dripping down their bodies and I walked by them.

Of course, I wanted nothing to do with them and simply continued on my way.

I heard their sighs of relief as I made my way to my destination.

"I almost thought I was going to die…"

"Me too…"

"I don't feel safe here…"

"Let's go the complete opposite direction of wherever he's going."

" _Thank god they didn't make a scene. So annoying…"_ I thought before walking ahead.

Remember when I said I was going to think about coming here to socialize more?

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen.

What had I done to incur such infamy?

Well, It was actually quite an…interesting story.

I had been waiting for Itachi at the entrance of the school one day since I hadn't had anything else to do at the time.

After waiting for a while, I had thought that he was doing extra work like the good student he was. Come to find out that Itachi was being "bullied" and because he didn't like fighting much, he wasn't hitting back as often.

Under normal circumstances, I would have allowed Itachi to solve things on his own because I knew he could easily slaughter every kid in this academy with his eyes closed and a hand behind his back.

Despite this.

His mom was Mikoto Uchiha.

And I was in a rush to see her.

As a result, I thoroughly crushed his would be bullies and dragged him off to his home. Unfortunately, ever since then I had been met with this annoying scene every time I made my way across the school halls.

It was _very_ irritating.

I broke myself out of my thoughts as I came across a room at the far end of the academy. I didn't have an appointment or anything, but I was more than sure that I would be pardoned if I just entered.

They weren't doing anything in there anyway.

I could sense their chakra.

With that, I opened the door and entered the room.

The **Mission Assignment Desk** was located within a huge, wide-open space with six windows and high ceilings with two stick-like lights. The ceiling also had the kanji for the word "shinobi" printed on it. There was a long table where the Hokage and other ninja sat and was where the missions were distributed.

The talking between the Shinobi, Hokage, and their advisors halted at my appearance before Danzo commented. "Yoru, I was not expecting to see you here."

I looked between Danzo and the Hokage before bowing, "Sorry for my intrusion." I began, "Recently I've been quite lax and have been focusing on other aspects of my non-physical training, however…" I stood up and glanced at them, "I feel as if my skills will rust if not used consistently and I've had plenty of time to rest myself. I was wondering if there was a mission available to me."

There was a silence at that as the shinobi around the table looked to the Hokage whose eyes were closed in thought. For a moment he stayed there in silence before opening his eyes, "Actually, there is something that I might have for you."

I looked at him intently, "What would that be Lord Hokage?"

He looked down at his pile of mission documents and shuffled through them for a moment before seemingly finding the one he wanted. "Not too long ago, I sent Minato out on a mission to hold back Kumo's aggressive front. As you should know, their Jinchuuriki is quite the problem and the 4th Raikage is a little impulsive." He then looked back up to me. "In any case, with Minato gone, I sent his students out on a simple reconnaissance mission, hopefully, to give them something to do and clear their mind." The Hokage outstretched his hand, the mission document still within it.

I took a few steps forward and accepted the document.

"Those two are two watch the border between Konoha and Kiri. I've been getting reports that the Land of Water has been moving suspiciously for a while." Hiruzen shook his head, "It seems like the lesson we taught them after the mission at the Tsuchigumo clan wasn't enough."

"I see…" I said before reading through the mission.

I froze.

An odd, indescribable foreboding feeling welled up within me.

* * *

 **Hidden Quest!**

 **Mission: Save Rin**

 **Reward: Rin lives, 50 stat points**

 **Failure: Rin dies**

 **Y/N**

* * *

" _What…?"_

"Yoru, is something the matter?" The Hokage asked as he watched me.

I looked at the screen that only I could see and mentally selected ' _ **Y**_ ' before focusing on the Hokage, "…Pardon my impudence, but is this mission really that safe?"

The Hokage looked at me seriously, "Are you frightened?"

I shook my head, "Far from it, however…" I looked down at this paper, "I have an odd foreboding feeling…I don't know why that is."

" _Of course I do, it's from the pop-up telling me that Rin was going to die if I didn't save her. What exactly is going on…?"_

"A shinobi must trust his instincts to keep themselves alive. Many have died because they ignored their better judgment." Danzo stated gravely. "If you feel as if something is wrong, then I can send a few reinforcements."

"That won't be necessary." I stated as rolled up the mission statement. "I feel like I'll be sufficient to handle whatever may come my way during this trip."

Both Hiruzen and Danzo looked at each other before nodding. "Very well, I'll trust your judgment."

I bowed at them before quickly exiting the school. I body flickered towards the gate and handed the guards my mission statement before they signaled me ahead.

With a nod of appreciation, I ran.

My body rapidly carried me through the trees as I dashed towards my destination, yet my mind was preoccupied. " _What exactly could be going on with them?"_

The Hokage wouldn't lie about this being a simple mission, therefore, a change must have occurred during the time after Kakashi and Rin left.

But what?

" _In any case…"_ I thought as I hoped from tree to tree onwards towards my destination, " _I just have to make it there in time."_

Don't get me wrong, if Kakashi and Rin both died, I wouldn't necessarily feel anything. However, I would very much prefer that they don't die, especially if I could prevent it.

I hoped they didn't die…

I hopped off another tree before a drop of sweat fell down my forehead. " _Maybe I should have brought my teacher? She has a much longer detection range than I do so she could find their chakra signatures much faster…"_

I suppose I had been in a rush to save them and hadn't quite considered that.

Was I perhaps worried?

That couldn't be…

I shook my head from those thoughts and decided that my speed wouldn't work out as it was.

" _ **ID Create: Empty**_ _."_

With that, I dropped to the floor.

There were a few reasons why shinobi didn't move at their very fastest when they were traveling to their destinations. For one, the enemy would be able to easily pick up their movements and for another, jumping between trees at their fastest possible speed wasn't really the safest thing.

Luckily in here, I didn't need to worry about that.

With my body enhanced by chakra and my high **HP** , I wouldn't suffer too much damage from this.

I blurred, my legs carrying my body at hypersonic speeds. Running this fast prevented me from effectively turning and changing direction which was near impossible in a dense forest anyway.

Good thing I never planned to do so.

I bulldozed through the trees in my path with my hands up and traveled as fast as I could towards. The wind tried to claw at my skin while the trees crashed against me, however, with my durability, I was able to easily handle the strain of traveling this quickly.

In a few minutes, I began to slow down before my feet ground to a halt. I looked behind me only to see that a large path of destruction had been created as a result of my traveling speeds

" _Good thing it was inside the_ _ **ID**_ …"

With that thought.

" _ **ID Escape**_ _."_

The mirror dimension shattered, dumping me in an area within the border between Fire country and Water country.

" _Now then…"_ I thought as I looked around. " _Where could they be?"_

The only information in the mission was that they were around the closest border between Kiri and Konoha. That just so happened to be around the peninsula that jutted out from the Land of Fire. I focused on my **Energy Resonance** but couldn't find their familiar chakra signatures.

" _Then I'm going to need to cover more ground…"_

With that, I created over 300 clones and had them spread out around the area. If any one or more of them found Kakashi and Rin, then they would dispel and inform me of their whereabouts.

I took a breath and sat down on the ground in wait. There was nothing much else I could due but lie in wait for my clones to communicate to me any new developments.

" _Try not to die you two or-"_

I snapped open my eyes.

" _Shit."_

I quickly got up and activated my **Accelerated Analysis**.

" _Shit, shit."_

With an application of chakra, I enhanced my body's physical parameters.

And ran.

" _How the hell did they get themselves into that kind of situation? Weren't they supposed to be on a simple recon mission?!"_

I narrowed my eyes and ran as fast as my legs could carry me towards the area that one of my clones had found. My feet bounced off the trees, splintering them as I propelled myself forward as fast as I could.

" _That looked like 30- no 32 Kiri Anbu."_

I didn't care if they died, but if I could prevent it…

" _As long as I can make it in time…"_

The trees began to slowly disappear so I dropped to the ground and ran as fast as I could towards the area. Going inside my **ID** would be ideal, however, if I suddenly appeared inside the enemy encirclement, it would be troublesome.

" _Come on, almost there…"_

Immediately after that thought went through my head, a pillar of water shot up to the sky from across the hill that was in my view. A drizzle of water fell down on me as a result of it and at the same time, I could finally sense Kakashi and Rin's chakra signatures.

I sharpened my gaze and moved faster just as many more pillars of water shot up from the sky.

" _Almost there…Wait."_

I mentally paused as my **Energy Resonance** picked up a bizarre chakra signature that was making its way in the same direction I was. It was bizarre in that there was a part of that chakra signature that was oddly familiar, however, that was overshadowed by another part of the same chakra signature that felt distinctly familiar.

It was the same chakra signature that surrounded most of Konoha's trees.

" _But those were formed from the First…"_

While the chakra from them had mostly dissipated over the decades since their inception, I could still feel the residual chakra that they contained.

" _How can someone have two completely different chakra signatures? What is with this situation?"_

Who was that individual?

Why were they headed in the same direction?

Was it an Ally or foe?

I ignored all that as I approached closer and closer towards my goal, the light of the mid-afternoon sky peaking from between the gaps of the trees at the end of the forest.

" _Almost there…"_

And then…

I stopped.

My eyes widened.

The scene of Kakashi's **Lightning Blade** rammed through Rin's chest played out in front of me…

" _That's not good…"_

Rin fell to the ground while Kakashi tumbled to one knee.

"Damn! He took it out!" One of the Kiri Anbu yelled.

"After all it cost us to obtain it!" Another one replied.

I looked at Kakashi and Rin's downed forms before gritting my teeth. " _This isn't the time to sit around!"_

However, before I could move…

My body froze.

Sadness.

Despair.

Betrayal.

Those feelings were suddenly projected onto me with such intensity that my mind stopped. I felt a hot liquid run down my eyes before I touched my finger to my cheek.

" _Tears…?"_

I looked around.

Someone was in such despair that it was even affecting me as I picked it up with **Empathy**.

Before I could regain my senses, a wail of despondence reverberated throughout the battlefield. I whipped my head to the source only to realize that it had come from the individual with the bizarre chakra signature.

" _Who is…?"_

Suddenly, another change occurred.

My **Energy Resonance** picked up a mutation that was occurring with the chakra centered around Kakashi's left eye. The sudden change seemed to have drained him as he fell to the ground, no longer able to support himself.

"Who is that?"

"Enemy Reinforcements?"

"Idiot. He came here all alone!"

The Kiri-non talked among themselves at the emergence of the individual with the bizarre chakra with the last guy throwing shuriken at the newcomer.

" _Now's my chance."_

I dashed from my spot towards where Kakashi and Rin had felled, hoping to use the other individual as a distraction, however…

"There's another one!"

"Damnit! Stop him!"

"Don't let him get near her body!"

They quickly noticed me.

" _They aren't ANBU for nothing…"_

I thought, my eyes shifting through the battlefield before I caught notice of the bizarre chakra signature only to notice that the individual was mowing down the surrounding ANBU, wood branches piercing through his victims.

"Don't underestimate us!" One of the enemy ANBU stated as he and another blocked my path.

I tightly gripped a kunai in my hand before I hardened my gaze ahead.

My eyes glowed as I activated **Deconstructive Analysis**.

"Move."

 **Yin Release: Spiritual Pressure**

A formless wave of energy spread out from around me, freezing the two enemies in their tracks for a moment.

A violently rotating blue sphere of chakra formed in the palm of my right hand before I drilled it through the chest of the closest enemy. The attack grinded through the skin, muscles, and bones before shredding the enemy's heart and bursting through his back.

"D-Die!" The other enemy yelled as he moved to spear me with his sword.

I quickly removed my hand from the corpse and simply turned my body towards him, allowing the sword to pierce through my chest before I grabbed onto his arm.

I could sense his fear.

I placed my free hand over his face.

"Y-you damned mon-!"

I didn't give him the luxury of finishing.

" _ **Rasengan."**_

His head violently exploded in a shower of blood and brain matter.

I dropped to the ground and rapidly continued towards my destination until I finally reached them.

"You won't get away!"

I quickly looked above, only to see the forms of 5 Kiri Anbu above me.

I quickly pulled the sword out of my chest and implanted an explosive seal on its handle with as much chakra as the weapon could take and then I tossed it up.

The shinobi above me had no way to dodge as the sword traveled up towards them and right as the handle of the weapon reached them-

" _Explode."_

A devastating eruption of energy blasted the Kiri-nin out of the sky and sent shockwaves that reverberated throughout the forest, flattening some trees along the way.

There was no more time to admire my work as a fraction of the enemy ANBU was quickly making its way towards me. Seeing this, I hurriedly placed my hands on both Kakashi and Rin and prepared to relocate.

" _ **ID Create…"**_

"AGHHH!"

Branches suddenly sprouted up from the ground around me and skewered the numerous shinobi that had been surrounding me, stopping them dead in their tracks.

Literally.

Time seemed to slow as I turned my head towards the anomaly and saw him looking straight at me as well.

Our gazes locked from across the battlefield for a brief moment.

" _ **Empty!"**_

Reality was altered around me as the sounds of battle disappeared. The destruction caused by the fights still remained visible in this mirror dimension of mine, but there was no one here but me Kakashi and Rin.

I first checked up on the girl, easily noting the hole in her chest and the fact that she wasn't breathing, she had no heart, and…

She was dead.

However!

I placed a hand on the hole in her chest.

" _The only ones who die around me are those I want to."_

 **Mystical Healing**

I pumped all the chakra I had into reconstructing a heart where there was none. My energy was rapidly siphoned from the activity, but I made sure to focus and concentrate it directly towards her empty chest cavity. In a few moments, a brand new organ formed where there had previously been none.

" _About 3.5 seconds has passed since she died."_ I thought before focusing some of the Healing to her brain. I needed to stimulate her brain activity or else even if I did manage to revive her, she would be a vegetable.

With that, I looked at her brand new heart that wasn't beating.

" _Let's fix that shall we."_

I had focused the healing only to her brain and the production of her heart, but I had left the hole in her chest open for this specific reason. I reached my hand into her chest and gripped her heart before squeezing it multiple times.

I just needed to jump start it enough that it would pump on its own and any extra damage I caused by doing this would be easily repaired by me later-

" _What the…"_

I paused and took my arm out of her chest as an orange cloak of chakra began to cover her body.

I narrowed my eyes.

I knew the feeling of this energy.

I could feel it within Kushina whenever I got close to her…

" _The hell happened during their mission?"_

There was no time for me to dwell on that as the chakra cloak began to rapidly cover her body. I could tell that whatever Bijuu was inside of her had been improperly sealed and would escape if given time…

" _This was done on purpose."_

I thought as I searched her body for the leak before finding the seal on her sternum. It was a two-pointed line seal, an incredibly weak seal to use for sealing powerful entities such as the bijuu.

However, she was in luck.

" _Seals are one of my specialties…"_ I thought as I lifted my sleeve and slightly curled my fingers before small balls of 'fire' with the kanji of the elements floated above my fingertips.

Earth (土)

Water (水)

Fire (火)

Wind (風)

Lightning (雷).

" _Five Elements Seal!"_

I jammed the seal onto her chest and immediately, the chakra dissipated.

It was common knowledge that placing an odd-numbered seal on top of an even-numbered seal would cause an imbalance and block the seal.

" _This will hold it for a little bit."_

If given time I could probably reconstruct a much more durable seal, however, I wanted to both get out of here and preferably have someone with more expertise on this subject look into it.

With that, I fixed up her clothing before looking at her chest, noting that the Bijuu chakra had not only healed up the hole, but that there was a subtle rise and fall of her chest.

Ping!

* * *

 **Quest Complete!**

 **Mission: Save Rin!**

 **Reward: 50 stat points**

* * *

I took a deep breath and sighed before looking over to the other individual who was in my care.

Aside from some bruising on his frame and the dwindling chakra that I could sense from him, he seemed otherwise alright. I healed him up and fixed his scratches, however, the mutation of his left eye must have taken a large toll on him.

I created a clone and had it hoist Kakashi while I held Rin in a bridal carry. After a quick nod to one another, we quickly ran back to the village.

We hurried to head back home, taking a few minutes or so to reach the outskirts of Konoha. As soon as we stepped on familiar grounds, we exited the **ID** and approached the gates.

The guards perked up at our approach and looked between us before stepping forward, "Do you require assistance?"

I shook my head, "They're just tired however…" I looked at him gravely, "We have an S-ranked emergency."

Their eyes widened.

"Open the Gates! Hurry, Hurry!"

"Contact the Elders!"

They yelled as they moved to action. I looked to them once more. "Tell the Hokage to meet me at Bunker 3."

The looked at each other before one of them nodded at me and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

My clone and I then rapidly made our way to the Hospital, the guards there quickly letting us through when they saw the forms over my shoulder.

I had my clone check in Kakashi on the normal levels of the Hospital while I went to its lower levels with Rin. A quick flare of my chakra granted me access the bunker room within and I made my way to an empty room ahead.

I opened the room with Rin still on my shoulders and gently placed her on the bed. I closed my eyes in concentration for a moment before creating a clone.

It quickly left in search of either Minato and/or Kushina. They were better at this stuff than I was and would be able to give much better help to Rin.

I leaned on the bed in exhaustion and ran my fingers through my hair. " _How could a simply recon mission get so complicated?"_

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

"How did a simple recon mission turn into this?" The Hokage stated with a sigh as he stood around the bed Rin was resting on.

"Yoru." Danzo began as he looked at me with his one lone eye, "What happened? I want to know the sequence of events that led to this."

I looked around me to see the faces of Danzo, the Hokage, both the advisors Koharu and Homura, Minato, and finally Kushina. The later two's faces laced with severity as they looked at Rin, more specifically, her seal.

I began. "I ran towards the mission area as quickly as I could in order to rendezvous with both Kakashi and Rin during their mission, however, I could immediately find them so I spread out my clones to search for their chakra signature." I turned my gaze back towards Rin, "One of my clones found them surrounded my Kiri Anbu so I made my way over, but by the time I arrived, I found Rin impaled by Kakashi's Lightning blade."

Their expressions changed, however, Hiruzen raised a hand and asked seriously, "There's more to this isn't there?"

I nodded my head, "You already know of my ability to detect emotions on a near infectious level. I could tell that Rin had decided to let herself get impaled and that it had not been Kakashi's objective."

The expressions of everyone around relaxed ever so slightly.

"Damn Kirigakure." Homura stated as he looked on the bed, "They implanted one of our own with a tailed beast and tried to destroy our village with it?" His face curled in displeasure.

"How did you escape from there alive?" Koharu asked me seriously. "Are you telling me you were able to fight of a platoon of 32 ANBU level shinobi, safely secure your comrades, and escape?"

I shook my head, "Unfortunately I'm not that skilled yet."

That was partially true. I could have killed them all, but I might not have been able to keep Rin and Kakashi safe at the same time. Admittedly, I could have just entered my **ID** , appeared next to Kakashi and Rin, and taken them back inside my **ID** , however, my emotions had been clouded by that other individual to the point where I hadn't made the _best_ decision.

"Then?" She asked with a raised brow.

I turned towards the Hokage with a heavy gaze, "Lord Hokage, do you know if the first Hokage had any illegitimate offspring."

That threw them for a loop.

The Third quirked a brow at the question before shaking his head, "The First was a genuine individual and was a simple and honest man, I highly doubt that he would do something of the sort. Why do you ask?"

I looked down in thought, "While I had been making my way towards Kakashi and Rin, I had felt a bizarre chakra signature that felt very similar to the forests surrounding Konoha."

"That's…" Koharu began.

Homura frowned. "That can't be after all those forests were created by…"

"The First Hokage." Danzo finished as he gazed at me. "Do you think you could be mistaken?"

I shook my head, "If it had only been his chakra that had been similar I could have possibly dismissed him as some sort of close relative, however…" my eyes narrowed slightly, "He no doubt used **Wood Release** to slaughter the Kirigakure ANBU."

There was pin-drop silence at that statement.

Danzo's eye sharpened.

The Hokage frowned.

Homura and Koharu looked shocked.

Both Minato and Kushina were working on Rin, but I could feel their surprise.

The Hokage sighed with clear exhaustion. "…An S-ranked emergency indeed."

"How could this happen?" Koharu asked. "Was the First really promiscuous?!"

"Maybe we misjudged him." Homura began, "He always acted like such an honest fool too…"

"Don't jump to conclusions." Danzo stated.

I nodded, "I can think of only three reasons for what I experienced." I began, collecting everyone's attention towards me, "The First is that the Hokage was loose and fired his cannon everywhere he w-"

"Yoru!" Kushina stated as she looked at me seriously.

Everyone seemed to share her sentiment.

I shrugged, "The other case is that someone somehow made a clone of the First Hokage…"

Everyone's expression turned even more serious.

"Though I have my doubts about that, it is not an impossibility."

" _Because that amount of despair could only have come from someone close…"_

Fun fact, in the case of a national emergency, Konoha kept the DNA of its most powerful shinobi for the use of the **Impure World Reincarnation**. The only reason I even knew that was because I had been asked for my genetic information before for that very fact.

The Hokage sighed (he seemed to be doing that more often) and looked at me, "And your third conjecture?"

I thought back to the conversation I had earlier with Orochimaru, "The only other possibility I can think of is that someone was spliced with the First Hokage's DNA and obtained his Wood Release."

Konoha had tried multiple times in the past to recreate the First Hokage's Wood release within their village. Of course, every single experiment met with failure and I was unaware of any that had somehow survived. The First Hokage's genes were just to dominating and were like a parasite to individuals whose bodies weren't compatible enough.

Of course, if any individuals had _secretly_ survived Hashirama's cells, it would make sense that I wouldn't know…

The Hokage looked up to the ceiling before shaking his head, "Whatever had been said here today will remain and S-ranked secret. Any mention of Rin's condition to anyone will be met with my swift and violent anger. Is that clear?"

No one objected.

"Good." The Hokage said with a nod before looking at Minato and Kushina, "How is she doing?"

"She's holding through." Minato stated as he looked at the seal. "However, while this seal was definitely a botched job, it was also preprogrammed to release under certain conditions."

"The effects could have been disastrous." Kushina stated as she gazed at Rin's sternum seriously, "We've managed to stabilize the seal so that it will actually function as such, however, we're still working on implanting a different seal in place of this shoddy job."

"What Tailed Beast is within her?" Danzo asked

"Three." Was Minato's reply.

The Hokage somehow seemed even more exhausted, "This situation is much too complex…"

I internally agreed. The First has given out the Bijuu as a sign of peace (why he did that still eluded me. Who would give out weapons of mass destruction as a sign of peace?). Now, however, Konoha was in possession of Kirigakure's Bijuu.

Who knew what kind of precedent this would set in the kinds of the other villages?

"Hmph, this is none other than the fault of their own arrogance." Homura sneered. "They were the ones who willingly gave our shinobi a tailed beast, we did not steal it from them and they cannot claim as such."

"However, you know that's not how the other villages will see this." Koharu replied. "They'll see it as Konoha trying to hoard more power in order to reign supreme. This won't sit well with them regardless of the underlying cause."

Homura frowned but nodded in agreement.

"Lord Hokage." Minato began, "I suggest that you send word to the other Kage before Kirigakure has a chance to spread the word. On one end, if Kiri sends out word first, it will seem exactly as Elder Koharu stated and the rest of the world will view us as power hungry. However, if we let everyone know the situation from our mouth first, while they will still be on edge, they will be much less likely to take action as Kirigakure won't get the chance to twist the narrative."

"What will you do?" Danzo asked the Hokage.

Hiruzen closed his eyes for a moment before nodding, "That is most likely the best course of action to prevent any more friction between the Hidden Villages. It would look even worse if the world thinks that Konoha is beginning to gather power just after signing a ceasefire with Iwa."

"That is sound." Homura stated.

Koharu nodded, "Agreed."

The Hokage slightly inclined his head before looking at Rin, "As for her?"

"We'll be able to finish in a couple of hours." Kushina stated as she looked at Minato who nodded in return.

"Very well." Hiruzen said. "I've requested a Yamanaka to come in and observe her mental state to make sure nothing was done to her mind and that she is in a sound state of being. I'll leave the rest to you." Saying that he turned and walked out of the room.

Homura and Koharu nodded and followed.

Danzo looked at me, "Your involvement always seems to make situations more…intriguing." With that statement, he too left the room.

As the door closed behind him, my body was suddenly dragged into a soft embrace.

I blinked, "…What is this for?"

"You saved her." Kushina began as she hugged me tighter. "Thank you."

"…There's no need to thank me. I would have-"

"Hush you." She said with a smile before eventually letting me go.

I then felt a pat on my head and turned to see Minato smiling at me. "Thank you, Yoru." He rubbed my hair for a moment before looking back at Rin, "She and Kakashi have already lost Obito and so far my team has been incomplete. You protected them when I couldn't and for that I am grateful."

I accepted his thanks.

"However…" Minato stated as he glanced at Rin, "I don't understand why she jumped in front of Kakashi's Chidori. Doing that to him after already losing Obito would almost certainly cause him to mentally collapse."

"That's true…" Kushina began as she continued to work on Rin's seal, "She wouldn't have done such a thing unless there was no other way."

"Well, in a normal situation, how could the enemy Village figure that Rin would willingly walk into her own home with a ticking time bomb?" I asked.

The paused for a moment before Minato asked, "You're saying that they somehow controlled her? Or at the very least stopped her from killing herself?"

I nodded. "That's the only thing that comes to mind. Rin's been through a lot, but I believe it would be odd for her to have her best friend kill her and mentally scar him for the rest of his life."

"But how?" Kushina asked. "I could only imagine that they either placed a mental block on her or placed another seal on her of some sort. I suppose the first one could be true since we found no evidence of the second…"

"We'll find out soon." Minato stated.

Time passed as Minato and Kushina worked on the seal before about an hour or so went by.

I perked up and looked to the door before saying, "Come in."

The person paused before opening the door and entering the room.

I blinked in recognition. "Wolf?"

The blond woman tilted her head at the sound of my voice before smirking, "Please, it's Kazemona when I'm not on the field." She then turned towards Minato and Kushina before bowing. "I apologize for the interruption, but I was called here to do a mental scan of a patient."

"Please, come over." Kushina stated as she moved her body a little to allow Kazemona through.

"Thank you." She said as she moved to the bed before gently placing her hands on the sides of Rin's temples and closed gardens her eyes.

A little time passed before Kazemona's eyelids trembled and opened.

"Well?" Minato asked, "Did you find anything?"

"Yeah. She's messed up in the head."

"…Hah?" Kushina asked as she narrowed her eyes, "Explain."

Kazemona looked down at the girl and continued, "Her emotions are a jumbled mess inside her head with her memories flashing by every second. Her consciousness seems to be in some sort of web of sorrow and resignation and is having trouble resurfacing."

"What do you-"

"This girl is in a coma induced by her unstable emotional state." Kazemona stated as she stood up, "The most I could do was create a path for her, but she's going to have to be the one to walk through it. I'm not keen on forcing her consciousness directly."

"What about any foreign mental blocks?" Minato asked, "Did you find any?"

Kazemona shook her head, "None whatsoever. Every mental block I found was self-induced."

There was silence at that, after which Kazemona stood up and dusted herself off. "Well if that is all, I'll have to go write a report now."

"…Thank you." Kushina stated.

The blonde woman looked at her, "I'm merely doing my duty."

With that, she looked towards me, "I'll see you around Yoru."

However, my eyes stared intently at her, more specifically her stomach.

"Is something the matter?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

I looked her in the eyes, "…Can I touch your belly."

Kushina raised a brow.

Kazemona blinked, "I suppose so…"

I touched her stomach and focused as intently as possible within before I removed it. "As I thought…"

"What exactly?" The Yamanaka blinked.

I pointed at her stomach, "You're pregnant. Congrats."

She froze.

Kushina's expression was that of surprise before she grinned, "Congratulations."

Minato looked over and chimed in, "You should strap your lover in place and make sure he doesn't escape his parental duties."

Kushina looked at him oddly, "That's rich coming from you."

"Oi! That was years ago, I didn't know how to manage being a dad at the time."

"Hmph, excuses."

I looked to Kazemona who was still frozen in place and stated, "Look at the bright side, you won't have to go on missions for months. Look what happened to me when I went on one after that long."

Her body trembled "…I'm going to neuter him."

I blinked. " _Ohh, poor Shark."_

Without saying another word, Kazemona left the room.

I turned back towards Minato and Kushina, noting that they were still having their little squabble before I turned to Rin.

Information about this world was filled with plenty of blank spots to me, but I felt that I'd changed something by saving her life.

" _Hopefully…"_

I squinted my eyes.

" _It's for the better…"_

* * *

 **Author's Note:** **So it recently came to my attention that non-story content such as my "Yoru - Stat Sheets" isn't really allowed on this site and I'm not so sure how I feel about continuing to update it if that is the case. That being said, I got a good suggestion from a reviewer to add a shortened list of stats at the end of my chapters with a numeric mention if it rose in the last chapter and I like that idea, so let me know how you all feel.**

 **Stat Update**

 **Age: 9.2 - 9.6**

 **Level: 87 - 90**

 **STR: 1061 -1218**

 **VIT: 1074 - 1245**

 **DEX: 1061 - 1231**

 **INT: 795 - 945**

 **WIS: 780 - 900**

 **ENGY: 1386 - 1645**

 **Skill Update:**

 **Cooking: lvl 135 - lvl 150**

 **Deconstructive Analysis: lvl 3 - lvl 13**

 **Gamer's Body: lvl 140 - lvl 155**

 **Hyperfocus: lvl 3 - lvl 4**

 **ID Create: lvl 29 - lvl 37**

 **ID Escape: lvl 29 - lvl 37**

 **Kawarimi: lvl 83 - 87**

 **Lying: lvl 87 - lvl 90**

 **Toxin Resistance: lvl 88 - lvl 90**

 **Physical Conditioning: lvl 81 - lvl 85**

 **Rasengan: lvl 25 - lvl 38**

 **Shadow Clone Jutsu: lvl 325 - lvl 375**

 **Shunshin: lvl 128 - lvl 133**

 **Stealth: lvl 96 - lvl 98**

 **Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu: lvl 86 - lvl 89**


	19. Chapter 19

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like reading fanfiction, writing fanfiction, eating, doing work, working out, reading fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

 **Quick Author's Note: Somehow when I wanted to do an update to the chapter 19 I had posted earlier, I must have accidentally clicked chapter 17. So Sorry!**

 **Update: Ok yeah, something is messed up on my account because no matter what I did, I COULD NOT get rid of the chapter "19" I posted. Like when I deleted the chapter on my "Manage Stories" the change didn't appear for _you_ guys. I have no clue why this happened and I am sincerely sorry.**

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

 _ **[Hiruzen's POV]**_

" _I'm so tired of this shit…"_

I thought with a sigh as I signed another piece of paper. After having worked tirelessly for 3 days straight in my office, I now only had a few more documents to sign.

" _Maybe paperwork is the enemy's tactic to tire me to death?"_ I mused.

It would honestly be one of the better attempts.

With that, I stamped and signed another piece of paper before I stopped and rubbed my aching shoulders with a grimace. It didn't help that the situation with the Three-Tailed Bijuu a few months back had made my life much more miserable.

As expected, the other nations weren't too keen on Konoha having both the strongest Bijuu and an additional one. Iwa was getting more nervous especially since they had lost one of their Jinchuuriki and hadn't found a trace of the 4-Tails ever since.

Kumo was more aggressive than ever had been trying more reverently to push against our borders.

Sand was on edge but reassured by our allowance, however slight that reassurance may be.

Needless to say, Kirigakure was quite livid at their loss, but they had willingly implanted their Bijuu into an enemy shinobi. We had no say in their actions and so the consequences of that idiotic decision was theirs to bear.

" _Good thing I won't have to bother with this much longer."_

The aftershock of the war had been substantial as evident by the ever-increasing piles of paper on my desk. My decision to preemptively strike a truce between us and Iwa had been met by disapproval by Danzo and some of the other Jonin commanders who had wanted redress for their comrades who had died in the war.

What mitigated this tension, however, was the fact that our potential casualties had reduced by thousands courtesy of **Mystical Healing** …well, that was what Yoru called it anyway.

Seeing their comrades and family members healed of injuries that normally would have been permanently debilitating had quelled their hearts enough that they had reluctantly agreed to my decision to end the squabble between us and Iwa.

However, even though their wrath had been somewhat mitigated, I had already decided to step down from my position. After a meeting with the Fire Daimyo and his council along with my advisors and Danzo, I had managed to convince them to accept the candidate I had chosen to replace me as Hokage.

" _And…done!"_

I leaned back with a relieved sigh as the final paper was stamped and signed. I soon straightened back up and called in my secretary before having her sort and send the documents to their respective areas.

" _I finished in time too…"_ I thought while looking outside. I had a scheduled meeting so after everything was said and done, I left my office.

The Hokage Residence was a large mansion occupied by the Hokage during their tenure and was located close to both the Academy and Hokage Rock. One of its purposes was to allow the Hokage to live on neutral ground as a gesture for them to not act on behalf of any clan or family, but to act on behalf of the village.

I also used that area as a meeting point for individuals who wanted to converse with me. As Hokage, it was important that I listened to the voices of the common folk and shinobi alike.

For now, however, I had already scheduled a meeting with someone important and didn't want to be late. Based on his moniker, I knew he wouldn't be either.

It took me no time to arrive at the guest reception area of the Hokage residence. I made my way to the front and center stage of the room before I sat down on the pillow in a seiza, closed my eyes…

And waited.

I was accompanied with nothing but silence for a while…

Before a presence entered the room.

"Lord Hokage." A voice said.

I opened my eyes to see Minato taking a knee on the ground in front of me, his head slightly lowered.

"Please, lift your head." I began. "Someone with your accomplishments in the field need not lower themselves so easily."

Minato raised his head before slightly shaking it, "I've only ever done what was required of me to do for the village and its people. Anything that has come of that is merely extraneous."

I couldn't help but smile a little at that before I schooled my features. "I believe that you will carry on the Will of Fire, so I want to entrust you with the future of the Hidden Leaf and the shinobi world." Here I paused and observed his serious countenance for a moment before I concluded with my gaze sharpened. "You will accept, won't you?"

His eyes locked with mine, there was no hesitation in his words as he replied, "I shall do my best to deserve your trust, Lord Third."

I smiled before releasing a light sigh, "I wish this could have been done under better circumstances…what lies ahead will not all be peaceful."

"I'm prepared for it." Was his immediate reply.

I smiled, "I know you will make me proud."

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

 _ **[Yoru's POV]**_

The restriction seal was spread throughout my body, creating an intricate intersecting line of script that glowed a dull blue hue. I slowly clenched my hand into a fist, feeling a bit of resistance from every inch of movement, before I nodded to myself.

" _Let's begin._ _ **ID Create: Werewolf**_ _."_

A bubble of reality spread out with me as the epicenter and encompassed my view. The environmental theme was altered as the bright afternoon sky transformed into a gloomy midnight firmament and the shining sun turned into a glittering moon.

I raised my head and pulled out a kunai from my inventory before I looked around me. I paused as the leaves rustled behind me before I immediately jumped to the side as a blur rushed by.

It was a bipedal canine creature with sharp elongated fangs, red eyes, pointed ears, and furry skin.

All the things you'd expect of a werewolf.

* * *

 **Werewolf LVL 85**

 **HP: 150000**

 **STA: 100000**

 **STR: 1500**

 **VIT: 1500**

 **DEX: 1000**

 **INT: 1000**

 **WIS: 1000**

 **ENGY: 1000**

 **EXP Gain: 500**

* * *

With a growl, the furry beast went on all fours before securing its hind legs and thrusting off the ground. The force of its acceleration crumbled the ground beneath it as it flew towards me at immense speeds.

My eyes glowed before I leaned back, placed my palms flat on the ground, and used it as a springboard to catapult my legs forward, catching the beast as soon as it was above me. I felt its bones crack and flesh mold to my foot as I attacked its weak point causing it to rocket towards the sky.

I flipped myself up and immediately ran lightning through my kunai before throwing it up, it's speed easily piercing through both the sound barrier and the wolf's skin. It howled in agony, which I ignored as I twirled the string I had attached to the kunai around my arm.

With a pull, the Wolf came flying down at hypersonic speeds before it impacted the ground with a resounding crash. The shockwave of the impact leveled the trees around me and spread out towards the distance before only silence reigned.

With a wave of my hand, I cleared the dust and walked towards my downed opponent who was whining pitifully. So with a raised leg, I channeled a large amount of Fire natured chakra through it before I stomped down.

 **You have earned 500 EXP!**

The monster crumbled to dust and disappeared, only leaving behind the kunai which I had lodged within it.

I picked it up and twirled it before turning around.

"Ambushing me isn't gonna work you know? I can sense you from over 5 kilometers away."

While I was pretty sure they couldn't understand my words, they still came out of hiding causing me to turn towards them.

There in front of me were 5 werewolves, each with their fangs exposed with saliva dripping down their maw. With a roar, they all charged towards me, to which I remained calm and took a breath.

I sharpened my gaze and tapped my foot on the ground, running chakra through it and causing spiked pillars of earth to erupt from below. The beasts bobbed and weaved through my attack as they traveled on all fours before they came only a few meters away.

I tapped my foot once more, causing a wall of earth to erupt right in front of me before I leaped up high. In but a moment, the werewolves crashed through the wall and skidded to a stop before turning their heads every which way for my trail.

I could see them sniff the air before they stopped and looked above…

Unfortunately, they were a little late.

With 5 shuriken in hand, I spun and tossed them at the werewolves, skewering all 5 through the neck and implanting the shuriken through the ground. They writhed and clawed at their necks, however, I wrapped the wire I had attached to the shuriken around my wrists.

With little exertion, I pulled, the resulting motion lifting causing me to travel faster towards the ground. My landing caused the ground to fracture around me before I grabbed onto the string with both hands and spun.

The 5 wolves wailed as I made them crash through the surrounding trees. As I spun, I ran a powerful current through the wire which electrocuted the wolves after which I tossed them up into the air.

Their angles and directions of impact were calculated by me and with my **Deconstructive Analysis** still active, I knew their "weak points". With that in mind, I created 5 spikes of earth which protruded from the ground directly in the locations that wolves would fall to.

With their Durability, the earth spikes would more than likely crumble, so I reinforced them with my chakra and waited.

It didn't take long for gravity to fully take hold of the 5 wolves as they fell down from above and skewered themselves on the spiked earth. I took a step back as I looked at them before I gathered a ball of plasma between my hands.

 **Storm Style: Laser Circus!**

5 laser beams extended from the ball of energy between my palms and pierced the struggling wolves through the head, killing them.

 **You have earned 500 EXP!**

 **You have earned 500 EXP!**

 **You have earned 500 EXP!**

 **You have earned 500 EXP!**

 **You have earned 500 EXP!**

As the wolves turned to dust, I returned the soil to its original state and moved to collect my shuriken, before I paused and sighed.

" _They don't learn…I suppose I shouldn't expect any better from them."_

With that, I immediately ducked as a form flew past me from above. Before it escaped my reach, I grabbed its ankle and slammed it against another form that had tried to sneak attack me from behind.

The two werewolves flew through numerous trees and pulled up a cloud of dust in their wake, but it wasn't over yet.

Another two energy signatures tried a pincer attack as they approached from my left and right, so right before they were about to touch me, I jumped up. Their momentum and close proximity prevented them from changing course and caused them to crash into each other.

With them disoriented, I landed on their heads before I brought my feet together causing their heads to slam together once more. I jumped, weaved a string attached shuriken around both their necks and wrapped said string around my arms before I landed to the ground.

My arms layered across each other, I ran lightning through the wires and made a scissoring motion. The added current sharpened the wires enough that they slowly seared through the necks of both wolves causing them to howl in agony…

Before they stopped.

Their heads rolled to the ground, yet their bodies were still moving, so with a deep breath, I generated a ball of fire and packed a dense amount of chakra into it.

 **Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!**

A torrent of orange fire spewed out of my hand and engulfed both the wolves. The intensity of the flames increased as the flames began to turn blue from the amount of energy I was adding to the attack.

And then they turned pure white.

The heat from the attack distorted the air and melted the earth as I incinerated the wolves. Afterwards, I slowly decreased the energy output of the fire beam until it stopped.

I lowered my hand, gazing at the aftermath of my assault. The wolves had been carbonized from the blaze, the eruption creating a blast line that seemed to distance over a kilometer. The surrounding trees caught on fire which spread through the forest causing the sky to glow orange.

What I had come to figure out was that hand-seals not only helped the user mold their chakra into their preferred shape, but it also allowed them to modulate how much energy they were putting into their technique. Someone like me who required no hand seals could pack as much chakra as they wanted into any energy based technique, however, if I took it too far and used up too much energy, I could suffer from chakra exhaustion or worse.

Since I had such a large pool of chakra and since I didn't need to use hand seals, I didn't limit myself too much and the damage from my chakra based attacks were all based upon how much energy I used for them. Of course, there were some exceptions like the **Rasengan** which amplified a small amount of energy in a unique way that caused more damage than if I had used that much chakra in a normal attack.

I stopped my muse in favor of jumping just as the two wolves that I had thrown earlier appeared. I backflipped over them and landed softly on my feet before I pulled out a kunai.

They growled angrily at me and moved to rush at me once more, however, I was faster.

I ran wind and fire attributed chakra through the blade before horizontally slashing my arm. The amplified fire attack was honed and traveled to the wolves who were unable to retreat in time before they were engulfed.

The trees behind them were sliced in half and incinerated from the attack while the monsters themselves fared no better.

Their bodies were split in two from the waist with the wounds instantly cauterized from the heat. It all didn't matter, however, as they soon decomposed into particles like all over defeated monsters.

 **You have earned 500 EXP!**

 **You have earned 500 EXP!**

 **You have earned 500 EXP!**

 **You have earned 500 EXP!**

With that, I took a breath and waited silently.

" _With 10 down, the pack leader should arrive…"_

A resounding howl echoed throughout the forest.

" _And she's here."_

It appeared outside my detection range before I could finally sense it 5 kilometers away. It bulldozed through the trees as it traveled towards me and within a matter of seconds, it came into view.

* * *

 **Werewolf (Packleader) LVL 125**

 **HP: 250000**

 **STA: 200000**

 **STR: 2500**

 **VIT: 2500**

 **DEX: 2000**

 **INT: 1500**

 **WIS: 1500**

 **ENGY: 2000**

 **EXP Gain: 15000**

* * *

It was twice as large as the other werewolves and had silver, instead of brown, fur which glistened in the moonlit sky.

It growled at me in anger, yet it circled me cautiously on all fours.

" _Hmm, I suppose this one is smarter…for a dog."_

I thought as I watched it with a close eye.

Stats weren't singular and usually had multiple meanings depending on the individual. For example, someone could have high **INT** denoting their overall knowledge of a particular subject or denoting their street smarts. Different kinds of intelligence which would result in different kinds of results for two different people.

Another would be **STR** as for the most part, an individual would need to work out each muscle group in order to make all parts strong. Their **STR** stat could refer to their leg strength or their arm strength. Additionally, there was also a difference between lifting strength and striking power.

All this, however, meant nothing to me. When my **INT** increased, all aspects of my intelligence increased proportionally. When my **STR** increased, all my muscles proportionally increased in strength along with my lifting and striking strength. The same was true for my other stats if it was applicable like **DEX** increasing both my movement and reaction speeds.

That was one of the benefits of my **Gamer** ability.

Why did this matter?

Because even if this wolf had 1000 **INT** , it did not mean for a moment that it was more knowledgeable than me.

The wolf growled once more before suddenly zooming towards me in a blur of motion. I crossed my arms protectively before I was swatted away through the trees.

" _Though it might be a little quicker in terms of its reactions."_ I thought before I skidded to a stop and removed my restrictions.

Unfortunately, it didn't help much as the wolf was already upon me with its paw raised high. With its speed greater than mine, I was unable to dodge in time as I was batted into the air for some distance.

I crashed through multiple trees as my back slid across the ground to a stop. I uncrossed my arms and slowly stood up before dusting myself off.

The pack leader stood in front of me with fury evident in its eyes while I looked on at it in boredom.

Of course, it's attacks had stung, however, my regeneration rate was immense.

Seemingly angry at my dismissal of it, it charged at me once more, however, I was now much better prepared. **Accelerated Analysis** allowed me to analyze its movements much more rapidly while **Deconstructive Analysis** provided me with its "weak points".

With that, I crouched right below the claw that had been aimed at my head, dodging it by a hair. The wolf now left open, I saw and exploited the glowing red dot on the side of its ribcage.

I rotated my waist as I extended my fist, crashing it into the tender side of its ribs. My fist sunk deep into the beast's flesh as it crushed its ribs, causing it to howl in agony.

I wasn't done as I jabbed two fingers into a glowing red spot located on its arm, disabling it. A kick to a weak point on its leg caused it to drop to a knee while a knee to its sternum caused it to heave.

I looked down on it before placing an open palm to its face and charging up a ball of lightning…

Before I was smacked in the head and sent through multiple trees. My body skidded and bounced across the ground before sliding to a stop, dust picked up behind me.

" _That bitch…"_ I thought as I messaged my jaw (which was fine in less than a second anyway) and stood up. The thing had attacked me with its tail the moment I had raised my hand.

Even with one leg, it came upon me rather quickly with a snarl on its face, intent on gnawing my bones. I simply raised my index finger to the sky in response, a pillar of earth impacting the wolf from beneath in response.

It howled to the moon as it was sent through the air after which I positioned myself right below it. My palm pointed up towards it, I charged a ball of electricity before I released a beam towards the sky towards the wolf.

Gravity assisted it in its descent as it fell while still within my blast before I stopped and stepped back. With a little concentration, I caused a pillar of earth to protrude from the ground right below the wolf before it impacted the column with its gut.

It groaned and fell off the column unmoving so I walked towards it and placed a hand on its chest. I could sense it's despair as it's instincts no doubt learned it of its imminent demise.

Too bad, there was nothing it could do.

I formed a **Rasengan** within its chest, blending its insides into mulch and causing blood spray out of its orifices. Its chest spiraled and burst as it spasmed and died.

 **You have earned 15000 EXP**

With that done, the wolf disintegrated, leaving behind a few fangs and…

" _Oh?"_

I thought as something glittering caught my attention.

I went forward and picked it up before raising it to the moonlight.

* * *

 **Minor Beast Essence (Werewolf):**

 **The crystallized form of the energy contained within the Werewolf. Absorbing its energy allows you to gain a portion of its stats**

 **Gain 1% of the Werewolf's STR and VIT**

* * *

I raised a brow at that.

" _I didn't think I would see one of these ever again…"_

Well, it wasn't quite the same, but years back I had absorbed a chakra beast core which shared many similarities with this one. There were, of course, many differences, for example, this one didn't specifically say "chakra beast" and there was no elemental affinity attached to the beast essence.

" _Still though…"_ I thought as I tossed it up and down a few times before sending it to my inventory. I someone in mind to give this to, so I wouldn't use it right away.

The rest of the stuff was decently valuable since the fangs and claws of chakra beasts were quite useful and durable. Though this wasn't a chakra beast per se, it might as well be one.

With that, I picked up the rest of the loot and waited for a while, before I sighed.

" _I guess I'm done for the day…"_

So I thought to myself.

" _ **ID Escape**_ "

The sky cracked and shattered, the sun replacing the moon and the bright blue sky replacing the dark nighttime sky.

It was unfortunate that with all the missions I had had to take, there had been very few opportunities for me to spend my time grinding dungeons. While it wouldn't drastically increase my stats, it would increase my levels.

With that, I looked down to my torn up clothes and simply willed them away. Seriously, why would I bother to change clothes if I could just use the **Henge** to create some? True, experts would be able to see through discrepancies in your transformation, however, mine came with physical changes as well. Besides, while high-level shinobi could see through the disguise, they couldn't see _through_ them (unless they had special eyes) so I was fine regardless.

With that, I created a ball of water and drenched myself with it before heating my body to dry off. Afterward, I created some clothes on myself and touched them, noting how they felt like actual fabric.

With that, I decided to pay my adorable sister a visit so I traveled to Kushina and Minato's household before placing my palm on the side of the door. With a flare of my chakra, I obtained access to their living area as the door opened.

I walked through it, sensing Kushina and Mito's chakra as I entered. The delightful sounds of humming made their way to my ears as I approached the kitchen, eventually realizing that they were coming from the woman within.

Kushina paused her cooking and turned around with a radiant smile on her face. "Yoru! What brings you here at this time?"

The woman wore a single long ponytail with bangs framing the side of her face. In addition to that she wore an apron that went down to her knees, a yellow shirt, jeans rolled up to her ankles and a pair of fuzzy pink slippers.

" _Minato is a lucky dude."_

Speaking of.

"I'm just here to play around for a little bit since I don't have much to do, though I'm curious where Minato is."

Kushina turned back around and continued focusing on her cooking before she replied. "He was suddenly called on by the Hokage for a private meeting not too long ago." She snickered. "I bet he did something dumb to get himself into trouble."

However, something in my brain stirred at that news, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it.

" _Doesn't really affect me though…"_ so I shrugged. "Let's hope he-"

"Big brother~!" a voice suddenly yelled from above before a form fell upon my back, it's arms wrapped around my neck.

I paused and supported her before I smirked. "Mito…how's it going?"

She smiled playfully, "I'm good~"

"Mito Uzumaki-Namikaze." Kushina said, turned around, arms crossed, ladle in hand while tapping her right foot. "What have I told you about tree walking inside the house?"

The girl shrank behind me before sticking out her tongue.

A tick mark appeared in Kushina's forehead as her hair threatened to move about wildly, "Why you little…"

The girl on my back giggled in response, however, I really didn't want Kushina to explode so I turned around to my side. "Come on, apologize to your mother."

Mito put on a sour face as she stared at her mother's angry visage before she relented, "…sorry mommy."

The woman in question softened her expression and twitched a smile. "You seem to listen to Yoru much more than you do me…"

The girl simply tightened her hands around my neck and giggled.

Kushina rolled her eyes and shooed us away, "Whatever, go play or something." That said, she turned back and continued to focus on her cooking before she added, "I'm making something right now so you can stay for lunch if you want."

I nodded as I made my way to the living room area that was across the kitchen, "I might take you up on that."

I took Mito off my back and placed her down on the chair, ignoring her expression of protest as I stared her in the eye. "…So you've started training."

Her expression brightened as she nodded, "I'm going to be a strong shinobi, just like you!"

I tilted my head, "You know, your parents are quite strong as well. Quite a bit stronger than I am, to be honest."

"But you're cooler…"

"I heard that!" Kushina yelled from the kitchen.

I couldn't help but chuckle a little.

I took one more look at Mito before my brows scrunched in thought. I was thankful that she hadn't been born before the war or she would have been forced to join the Academy at an early age.

Now though, the war was more or less over and so there was not as much a need to send out children as young as her out to the field. That being said, every shinobi started out as a child soldier and she no doubt would want to pursue this life.

" _Still though…"_ I thought as I gazed at her. " _I don't want her to get hurt…_ "

Even if children Mito's age were no longer participating in missions and the like, Minato and Kushina had started to begin training their daughter so that she would have a solid foundation for the future. True to her heritage, the girl had some natural skill and already had low-Jonin level reserves despite her age.

However…

" _It's not enough."_

She could still get hurt if she ever went out on the field, but I wouldn't be there to help her…

"Yoru…What's wrong?" The girl asked as she stared up at me with her big blue eyes.

I ran my hands through her hair. "Nothing much. Just thinking about some things."

She closed her eyes under my touch before I singled out a strand of her hair and yanked it off.

"Ow!" She yelled as she grabbed her head before staring at me with a dirty look. "That was mean!"

I smiled and saved the strand of hair in my inventory before running my hands through her hair once more. "A shinobi should always be on alert against her enemies."

"But you're not my enemy." She said before hugging me. "You're my big bro."

My body froze up.

" _Too…cute…"_

"Ahh Yoru!" Mito said in remembrance as she separated herself from me and laid her palms in front of me. "Look what I can do!"

I blinked and focused before my eyes widened in slight surprise as Mito released a chakra chain from her hands. "That's…"

He smiled pridefully. "Hehe, Mommy said that it was a special technique of our clan. So? What do you think? I'm amazing right?" She puffed her chest as if waiting for a compliment.

"You are pretty amazing." I said while looking at the long floating chains of dense chakra and held it. I immediately felt the effects as my chakra felt restrained. I tilted my head and focused my attention on the structure and composition of the chains and couldn't help but notice how it was different from Kushina's. For one thing, instead of glowing in a dull yellow hue, it was dark green. Furthermore, with my familiarity with natural energy, I could sense it in all around us and found that Mito's chains seemed to absorb the exogenous energies in the atmosphere.

Kushina snorted "Heh, why don't you tell Yoru the circumstances in which you activated your bloodline?" She stated with a _look._

Mito's face turned bright red as she hung her head down.

I raised a brow. "…Do I want to know?"

"Heh." Kushina began as she tightened her gaze and clenched her fists, veins popping on her forehead. "She has guts, I'll give her that. She dared to steal my secret stash of cup ramen that I'd kept in a place too high to reach!"

I tilted my head, "So she manifested the chains to reach the ramen…?" I admit that was definitely an unorthodox awakening scenario.

"If only that was what happened…" Kushina trailed off as she trembled.

Mito looked away from her mother and whistled suspiciously.

"Imagine my surprise when I caught her using tree walking to reach my secret stash and steal _my_ ramen! And instead of immediately begging for forgiveness like a good girl, she had the _audacity_ to wrap me up in her chakra chains and trap me while she ate my ramen!" It was at this point that Kushina's chest heaved up and down in anger as she tightly gripped her ladle.

"You had a pan in your hands!" Mito screamed. "You can't convince me that you were going to use it to cook!"

"So you decided to trap your own mother in chains and eat her ramen?!"

"It was better than getting smashed in the head with a pan!"

"You deserve a good head bashing you disrespectful young lady! You should never take a woman's ramen!"

"Maybe if you shared I wouldn't have to steal your stupid ramen!"

"Don't you dare insult my ramen!"

I stared at the mother-daughter duo with a dead look and questioned all the life decisions I had made up to this point.

Where did I go wrong?

As I was lost in thoughts and as they continued this back and forth argument, I suddenly snapped my head up as a large chakra signature entered the home, Mito mirroring my action as she stood up.

"Daddy!" She yelled as she jumped off me and ran for the door even though the individual had not yet been in view.

I raised a brow, " _Well, that's interesting."_

The sound of Mito's giggling became louder as Minato approached the interface between the kitchen and dining room, Mito on his shoulders.

Kushina huffed at Mito before turning to Minato with a smug look on her face. She slid next to him and playfully elbowed his ribs. "So? What did he say?" She then leaned against him nonchalantly, "Honestly, what did you do wrong this time? I wonder how hard the Hokage grilled you?" She finished while giggling.

Minato raised a brow, "Well…" he paused as if trying to find a proper way to explain his predicament. "…He made me the next Hokage."

Kushina sighed. "Honestly Minato, how did you screw up so…" she trailed off, eyes widening as she finally comprehended what her husband had told her before she turned towards him. "Wait, you…?"

Minato gave her his usual charming smile and nodded. "I'm going to be named the Fourth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf."

My eyes widened

Kushina paused as her cheeks grew rosy before she threw herself against Minato. "Congratulations ya know!"

As she rubbed herself against him, Minato struggled to balance himself. "Oi, Oi!"

It also didn't help that Mito was joyfully hanging onto his hair as well. "Yay! daddy's going to be the Hokage~!"

After a moment, Kushina stopped and took a step back before recomposing herself with a cough. She then looked at Minato seriously before starting, "Thank you so much for all your hard work."

Minato straightened himself before replying. "Thank you."

With that, Kushina smiled and hugged Minato once more creating a picture perfect family moment with Kushina and Minato embracing while Mito hung onto her father's hair.

" _So this is when he is passed on the mantel…."_ I thought to myself. I had known it would happen at some point during or after the 3rd Great Shinobi war, but I had had no idea when specifically.

Looking at the joyous faces of the small family across from me, I couldn't help but think, " _I wonder if I have a camera somewhere in my inventory…"_

Nah, with my memory, I would know if I did.

That said, the gooey gushing emotions emanating from Minato and Kushina caused me to turn to Mito. "Isn't that great Mito?"

The girl in question tilted her head while still sitting on Minato's shoulder. "What is?"

I looked back towards Minato and Kushina who seemed to be in their own world. "…It looks like your parents are going to get you a little sibling in the near future."

Kushina and Minato froze

Mito smiled brightly, "I want a baby brother!" She then turned towards her still parents "Mommy! Daddy! can I have a brother?" She asked with shining eyes.

Minato's face slightly burned up while Kushina glared at me, her hair writhing chaotically. "Yoru! What are you teaching my baby girl?!"

I tilted my head, "As far as she's concerned, a spork delivered her to you guys. I don't think she knows about the birds and the b-"

For the first time in a while, my **Danger Sense** blared at me to move. Unfortunately, my movements were much too slow for me to dodge the chakra chain that tied around my ankle.

My chakra was repressed.

I was lifted up off the ground and hung upside down as Kushina brought me to her, a vein easily visible on her forehead. "You have some guts trying to corrupt my little girl!" She then dangled me around with a sinister grin, "Say, your healing technique can regrow limbs can't it?"

While I was able to maintain a non-interested facade, my body's physiological response was hard to fake as cold sweat seeped down my forehead.

"P-Please, calm down dear…" Minato said in a placating manner.

Thankfully, Mito came to the rescue.

"Birds?" She asked, causing Minato and Kushina to freeze. She looked at them innocently with her large blue eyes. "Is that where babies come from?"

Minato sighed in relief while Kushina _hmphed_ and tossed me aside. "As far as you're concerned young lady, it is."

While Mito had a thoughtful look on her face, I did a backflip and perfectly stuck the landing. Kushina gave me another dirty look.

I shrugged before pausing and sniffing the air. I looked to Kushina before pointing behind her "I think you have more important issues than me to worry about."

She froze, nose shifting before she panicked. "Oh no! my food!"

She hurriedly moved to the pot and opened the lid, causing a plume of smoke to fill the house. She coughed while waving away the smoke before looking at the inside of the pot. "Noo! It's all burnt!"

Minato moved forward and placed his hands on her shoulders in comfort, "It's alright, we can always order something or eat out."

Kushina's shoulders trembled before a shadow covered her face as she turned her head towards me. "YORU!"

" _Aaand, that's my cue to leave."_

I waved to them. "Well, enjoy each other's company tonight though try not to keep Mito awake."

Before they could even utter a retort-

" _ **ID Create: Empty**_ _."_

I disappeared.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

I exited my Instant Dungeon after entering my apartment and breathed a sigh of relief. " _I almost had to use_ _ **Second Wind**_ _back there…"_

With that thought complete, I looked around to see that everything was in place before nodding in satisfaction. I then reached into my inventory and pulled out a dull glowing orb. I could sense a large amount of energy contained within the **Minor Beast Essence** as I carefully observed it at eye level. The energy certainly didn't feel like chakra, but instead kind of felt like some form of natural energy…

" _Oh well, I think she'll like it."_ I thought before putting it in my pocket and exiting my apartment building. I then took five steps forward towards the door across from me and raised my hand to knock on it-

"Come in."

I paused my motion before lowering my hand. " _I figured…"_

And so, I opened the door and walked inside the apartment before stopping and blinking. "Um…?"

There on the couch lay my teacher with a clone behind her who was methodically and carefully taking needles off her back.

"Well don't just stand there." She said as she motioned to me with her head, "Close the door and come over."

I raised a brow and did as instructed before asking, "Acupuncture?"

As the last needle was removed, the clone dispelled allowing Kotoe to sit up and stretch her back. "I've been trying to relax ever since the war cooled down. Not being on missions for so long after having always been on so many of them has put me a little on edge." She then smirked, "I feel like I've been sleeping on 'pins and needles'." She chuckled at that.

I sighed, "Please stop, your puns 'prickle' my ears."

As soon as I said that, I raised my hand and snagged a long senbon from midair, catching it just a few centimeters away from my eye. I lowered my hand before twirling the long needle between my fingers, "…That wasn't very nice."

"Hmph." She replied while leaning back on her couch with her legs crossed. "You'd be fine even if you let it hit you, but that aside…" she looked at me questioningly, "As irresistible I may be, I doubt you came all this way to simply make fun of my bad puns."

"…I live five steps away."

She rolled her eyes. "Semantics."

I tossed the senbon back to my teacher, which she deftly caught, before replying, "I have something for you."

She raised a brow before her gaze traveled to my pants pocket, "Is it whatever is in there?" She said as she pointed to it. "Whatever you got there feels weird but…refreshing."

"Astute as ever." I said as I pulled out the **Minor Beast Essence** and held it up to eye level, "After fighting and killing a werewolf I-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" She said, holding her hands up before looking at me strangely. "Did you say _werewolf_?"

I nodded.

Her gaze became stranger, "Where exactly did you find and kill a werewolf?"

"…alternate dimension."

She looked at me for a long time. "You know what? I don't actually care. Continue."

So I did.

"After killing said werewolf, its body dissipated and I found this thing that looked like a chakra beast core but kind of felt different. I figured it worked the same so I thought I would give it to you." Saying so, I handed her the lustrous orb of energy before commenting. "I feel like I owed you that from the last time."

Kotoe took the orb and observed it closely before chuckling, "You're using me as a test dummy aren't you?"

"…No."

She gave me a humorous grin, yet she kept it anyway. "I trust you wouldn't give me anything harmful." Her smile still on her face, the looked at me searchingly before asking, "So? what else brought to over to my humble abode?"

I sat down next to her before laying the back of my head on her lap and looking up to the ceiling. "Does a student need any reason to visit his favorite teacher?"

She looked at me with a raised brow, "Ohh yeah? I could have sworn you spent most of your time over at your other teacher's place. I guess my sense of time isn't what is used to be." She ran her fingers through my hair as she said so.

"Whaaaaat?" I drawled slowly. "That couldn't possibly be true, teacher. I guess you've really screwed up your perception of time because there's nooo waaay I would spend more time with Kushina and her adorable daughter than I would with you…"

She paused her caressing and tightly gripped my hair. "Cheeky brat." Saying so, she pulled on my scalp.

"…Ow. Please stop…"

She chuckled and did so.

With that, I continued, "Besides, Kushina tried to kill me a few minutes ago so your back on top as my favorite teacher."

"So I wasn't your favorite teacher before?"

"You both were tied for the race."

She gave me a _hmph_ before asking, "So? What did you do to set the woman off?"

"…Well, it's kind of a long story."

"Trust me, I've got plenty of time."

I paused, "I'm also not sure I should be telling you this as the story contains information that I'm not sure I should share…"

Here, she looked at me skeptically, "Were you specifically told not to tell anyone?"

I shook my head, "…I kind of escaped before any conversation of the sort could occur."

"Then spill."

I paused then shrugged. "Well, Minato was handed over the mantle of the Hokage and Kushina got quite excited due to that. I made fun of them for it and told Mito that she'd get a new sibling soon and Kushina got mad that I was teaching her daughter inappropriate things. Things escalated from there and here I am now."

There was a pregnant silence that followed my statement before Kotoe stated, "…Minato's going to be the next Hokage?"

I nodded

"…Huh." She looked at me oddly. "The things you go through in your free time…I really shouldn't bother asking."

I shrugged, "Anyway, I now have nothing else to do so I'm here now."

She tilted her head, "What about your friends? Like that Itachi fellow, you told me about."

"He's off on a mission." I simply replied.

"Then, what about that Rin girl? I'm sure she's grown up to be quite the cutie."

I paused and narrowed my eyes. "She's in a situation in which I can't really interact with her. The reason for that is an S-ranked secret, but all I can say is that she's been asleep for a while."

She gave me a long hard look and nodded in understanding before asking, "What about Kakashi?"

"He's been brooding every day since Obito died and goes to his grave like every other day. I can literally feel his depression from the other side of the village and it's really annoying."

She rolled her eyes, "Do you have _any_ other friends?"

"…"

My teacher released a light sigh, "You really need to get out more." She opened her eyes and looked at me, "Then? are you just going to lay on my lap? I know they are comfortable, but I'm not going to sit here all day."

I groaned slightly, "Fine then, let's hang out with _your_ friends."

She paused. "…On second thought, I guess I really don't have much else to do either."

Following that statement was a period of silence between us as Kotoe rubbed my head while I peacefully enjoyed it.

Then I had a thought.

"…Hey, remember that first mission we went to? After I had my first kill?"

She nodded. "What about it?"

"Well…" I began, shifting my head to look up at her, "Why don't we go to the hot springs as we did at that time?"

"That's a very…interesting way of introducing your proposal." She said before glancing upwards with a thoughtful look, "But it doesn't sound too bad, however-" she looked back down at me, "Konoha doesn't have a mixed bath so we'd have to be on the opposite sides of the fence."

"Hmm…" I scratched my chin in thought for a moment before I suddenly snapped my fingers, "I can just make one." I nodded my head at the feasibility, "I can manipulate the earth to dig a deep enough hole then I can dump the water inside, but for the heating, I'd need to…" I trailed off in thought for a moment as my mind ran through some calculations.

"Well?" Kotoe said looking at me.

I refocused my gaze before sitting up from her comfortable lap and looking at her, "I'm going to need that orb I gave you."

She raised a brow and searched her pocket before handing it to me, "You know, I never took you for the type of guy to take his gifts back."

"I would if I was upgrading it to something better." I said, looking at the orb appreciatively before nodding, "Yeah, this will work."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Nope, you wouldn't understand anyway."

She raised a brow and crossed her arms as she looked straight at me, "Fine, but next time you want a lap pillow don't come running to the one conveniently located across the hall."

I closed my eyes and sighed before explaining, "In order to produce the heat necessary for the hot spring effect, I need something that can conduct energy quite well but I don't have anything like that in hand at the moment, however this…" I continued, holding the **Minor Beast Essence** up, "Will work perfectly and I'll be able to store a lot of my fire natured chakra into it. I'll just have to create some seals to regulate the energy output once it is placed in the water and I already have a design in mind…" I trailed off in thought at the logistics of it before my teacher interrupted me.

"Fine, but where do you plan on building this hot spring of yours."

I paused for a moment at the logical question before my brain came up with an answer, "We'll use the fifth training ground. No one ever goes to the fifth training ground…"

She looked at me oddly, "Where did you ever hear that?"

I looked back at her, "…From my own mouth."

Kotoe stared at me for a long time before slowly taking a deep breath and sighing in exasperation. "You know what? I don't even care." Saying so, she grabbed my wrist, "Let's go."

And without warning,

She body flickered.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

I placed my hand on the ground, spread out my chakra, and began to mold the ground beneath me. First, I cleared out an area 5 meters in diameter and only a meter in depth with my earth manipulation.

I made sure that the ground was stable before I moved on to the next stage of my master plan. I spread out my chakra and felt for the various different kinds of stone littered beneath the soil. I closed my eyes in concentration for a moment as I sifted through the various types of stone before I gathered as much marble as I could.

I sliced and shaped the marble into slabs with my earth manipulation and then began to place them along the sides and bottom of the makeshift pool. I used my earth natured chakra to meld the stone together until the entire trench looked like it was composed of marble.

I looked to Kotoe who was sitting on the base of a tree a few meters away. "Teacher, can you clean up the inside of that? I'm going to focus on the beast core for a moment."

She shrugged and stood up, "I got nothing better to do." Saying so, she went through some hand seals before blowing out a stream of water from her mouth into the pool. With that, she began to move and manipulate it around the marble filled hole.

Seeing as she was good on her end, I focused on mine. I took out a scroll and ink from my inventory and placed the chakra beast core to the side before I began hitting down seal formulas.

" _Let's see…I can use 3.5 mL of ink and use 1.5 mm thick brush strokes…"_ I nodded at the feasibility before I began to scribe. " _Energy storage matrix and a modulator to control its output in addition to a safeguard mechanism just in case I screw up with my final product…"_

Whenever I was inventing a new seal, I first had to go through a rough draft on paper before I even began to think about implementing it with my chakra. If I screwed up on paper, as long as I wasn't working on spacetime seals, the worst that could happen is that it would blow up on my face.

If I screwed up the seal with my chakra, considering it was much harder to get rid of than just paper and ink…" _Let's not make that mistake. I don't want to find out the consequences."_

With my rough draft complete, I placed my hand on the piece of paper and input a little bit of chakra-

My **Danger Sense** pinged so I hurriedly tossed the scroll away and no sooner did it explode in a shower of fire.

I stroked my chin in thought, " _brush stroke width should go up by a millimeter but the ink volume should be alright. Also, need to tweak a little bit of the storage matrix and output modulator…"_

"Should I be worried?" Kotoe asked from the side with a raised brow.

I broke myself from my thoughts and shook my head before getting back to work, "Nope. This is all part of the natural Fuuinjutsu seal life cycle."

My teacher shook her head, "You seal masters are insane." Saying her piece, she went back to cleaning the marble pool.

I looked back at the ground and got out another scroll before inscribing the modifications to my seal. With that complete, I then placed my hands on it and emitted my fire natured chakra…

Immediately, I grabbed and tossed the scroll high up into the air and no sooner did it burst into fireworks that lit up the late afternoon sky.

Kotoe looked up from her working area, "I don't suppose that was what you wanted to happen?"

"…Not quite."

She rolled her eyes and continued on with her work.

I rubbed my chin and calculated a view more things in my brain before I widened my eyes, " _A containment mechanism to prevent excess energy from leaking! How the hell did I miss that?"_ After that epiphany, I furiously got to scribbling down my improvements before I finished.

" _Ok, third time's the charm…"_ I placed my hand on the paper and slowly infected my fire chakra within. Even after a while after, the scroll showed no signs of destabilization causing me to smile in triumph.

"Alright, I'm all set." Kotoe stated from her end.

"Likewise." I stated before picking up the orb. Paper was not a great conductor of my energy and wouldn't be able to take in a large amount of it, so the fact that it had taken in as much as it did meant that my seal would be more than adequate for the **Minor Beast Essence**.

Along with that thought process, I used my chakra to form the completed seal on the orb. Afterward, I slowly infected my chakra, making sure to carefully watch for any signs of instability. When none was evident, I began to injections more and more of my fire natured energy until a little more than a quarter of my energy had disappeared.

" _It took in 500,000 units of chakra…sweet."_

With that, I looked to Kotoe who was staring at me expectantly and nodded. I walked to the center of the depression on the ground opened up a small hole in the marble. I could feel the heat emanating from the orb in my hand, so I placed it in the small cavity I had created before stepping out of the hole.

Next, I placed my hands on the ground and constructed a 4 cornered wall around me and my teacher. Finally, I raised my hands and spread my chakra outwards before gathering as much water as I could. When I felt like I had gotten enough, I let gently placed the giant ball of water into the empty pool.

With that, I turned back to Kotoe, "And that should do it. All we need to do now is wait for the water to heat up a little-"

"Just shoot a fireball in the water. I really don't want to wait any longer. Your orb thing will keep the water warm."

I blinked before turning around and doing as told and shooting a weak ball of fire into the water. Immediately after, light steam began to form so I turned around back to my teacher only to see her already undressed.

She smiled back at me, "I told you, I really didn't want to wait." With that, she stepped into the pool and leaned back constantly on the sides of the makeshift bath. "Ahh, this feels so good~"

I shrugged and followed her inside.

She looked at me oddly, "You're coming in with your clothes on?"

After sitting down beside her, I removed my 'clothes' with a thought. "I usually just use the **Henge** to make my clothes. It takes way less effort to do that, to be honest."

"Wait…" She said, turning towards me, "You mean to say that you essentially walk around naked? How long have you been doing that?"

I waved my finger, "First of all, I have clothes on, they are just not very durable since they are just energy constructs. As for how long…" I paused and thought for a moment, "2 years, 5 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, 14 ho-"

"Ok, ok, I get it. You have a perfect memory, sheesh." She said before resting her head back.

"…You're the one who asked." I said before leaning back and enjoying the soak of the pool.

Sometimes, it was simple things like this that felt the greatest.

* * *

 **Nothing much going on this chapter. Next chap it'll pick up just a _tad_ bit. **

**Author's Notes: The tier is mainly for you, the readers, to understand that even if Yoru had the same stats as someone who is, say, level 400, (and he was level 100) he wouldn't have the same damage output, speed, power, etc. Whatever shit I wrote in chapter 11 about damage multipliers and stuff, you shouldn't care about it. Just keep in mind that higher tier = overall stronger. It is almost like the levels in DanMachi as even if a level 1 has S level stats (900-999), he will find it hard to beat a level 2 with say, G level stats (200-299) **

**(of course, there are many factors to this and the difference between tiers isn't _as_ drastic, but the concept is similar)**

 **Stat Update**

 **Tier: 7-B+**

 **Age:** 9.6 **\- 10.2**

 **Level:** 90 **\- 93**

 **HP:** 296993 **\- 342715**

 **CP:** 466515 **\- 546480**

 **STR:** 1218 **\- 1325**

 **VIT:** 1245 **\- 1334**

 **DEX:** 1231 **\- 1331**

 **INT:** 945 **\- 1020**

 **WIS:** 900 **\- 1005**

 **ENGY:** 1645 **\- 1807**

 **Skill Update:**

 **Cooking:** lvl 150 **\- lvl 165**

 **Deconstructive Analysis:** lvl 13 **\- lvl 21**

 **Gamer's Body:** lvl 155 **\- lvl 170**

 **Hyperfocus:** lvl 4 **\- lvl 5 MAX**

 **ID Create:** lvl 37 **\- lvl 45**

 **ID Escape:** lvl 37 **\- lvl 45**

 **Kawarimi:** lvl 87 **\- lvl 90**

 **Lying:** lvl 90 **\- lvl 93**

 **Toxin Resistance:** lvl 90 **\- lvl 92**

 **Physical Conditioning:** lvl 85 **\- lvl 91**

 **Rasengan:** lvl 38 **\- lvl 45**

 **Shadow Clone Jutsu:** lvl 375 **\- lvl 400**

 **Shunshin:** lvl 133 **\- lvl 140**

 **Stealth:** lvl 98 **\- lvl 100 MAX**

 **Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu:** lvl 89 **\- lvl 92**

 **Legendary Earthling:** The reason Yoru couldn't recall Obito's chakra signature was because it was being masked/overshadowed by White Zetsu's chakra signature which is the same as Hashirama's whose chakra is very powerful.

 **Kaliedo:** There is no "Max level" to be honest. As for the skills, they really are only proficiency and strength increases with each level. Nothing more to them really. (EDIT: were you asking about skill levels or Yoru's personal level? cause there is no max personal level but there is a max skill level. sorry for the confusion lol)

 **Boblets:** No clue what you are talking about. In the last chapter Yoru _literally_ says " _That was partially true. I could have killed them all, but I might not have been able to keep Rin and Kakashi safe at the same time."_ He can slaughter Anbu-level shinobi and the only reason he said he _couldn't_ in the previous paragraph was because Yoru can't be bothered to tell them how strong he is. He only questioned his ability to keep Rin and Kakashi safe while doing so Please read carefully before you insult my character.


	20. Chapter 20

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like reading fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

I furrowed my brows in thought as I walked along a dirt path sandwiched by rows of trees on either side.

* * *

" _She didn't have a mental block…" Kushina stated in thought. "But we didn't find any other seal on her either, so what caused her to force Kakashi to kill her?"_

 _Minato paused in thought, "Maybe we're thinking about this incorrectly. What if she had a seal but it was removed after she died? There are plenty of seals that have such a function, the Hyuga being such an example."_

 _The red-haired woman paused in thought before agreeing with a nod. "Certainly, if that was the case, then it would make sense why we couldn't find one anywhere on her."_

" _But then that just begs the question." Minato began, his gaze serious, "Who had the skill to place such a thing on her?"_

* * *

 _"It doesn't really make sense…"_

I thought to myself as I continued on my way.

" _If Kirigakure had someone who was skilled enough in Fuuinjutsu to place such a cursed seal on Rin, why did they so willingly give up the Uzumaki scrolls at that time?"_

That was what was bugging me.

The conclusion Minato and Kushina had come to a few weeks ago had been that Rin had been implanted with a cursed seal that prevented her from saying anything and would only disappear when she died.

Problem was, there was no one in Kiri with that skill because if there was, they wouldn't have had such a difficult time deciphering the Uzumaki seal scrolls.

Furthermore, when Kakashi has rammed his lightning blade through Rin's heart.

* * *

" _Dammit, he removed_ _ **it**_ _."_

" _Even after all the trouble we went through to get_ _ **it**_ _."_

* * *

That was what the Kirigakure Anbu had said at that time.

What could **it** have been referring to?

Her heart?

" _Doubtful."_

Therefore, it must have been something important enough for their plan that they would get upset over its loss.

Such as, for example, a cursed seal that would control Rin to some extent.

" _So that means…"_

Rin willingly let herself get stabbed in the heart in order to remove the seal that had been controlling her and preventing her from taking her own life.

But that wasn't all.

" _Kirigakure may have been played…"_

There was someone skilled enough and powerful enough to manipulate Kirigakure into turning a foreign ninja into the Three-tailed Jinchuuriki while also simultaneously placing a highly complex cursed seal on the victim.

" _The question is who?"_

That was what had been bothering me since. The thought that there was such an individual out in the shadows was quite frightening and set me on edge.

However, this was also merely conjectured.

For all I knew, I was overthinking things and Kiri had simply found some wandering seal master and paid him/her to do the job.

" _Still though…"_

I shook my head.

Even if I was right, what could I even do?

As my senses came back to me, I paused as I finally noticed an abnormally large amount of chakra signatures gathered around the Hokage's Building.

" _Is the Third making an announcement?"_

"Hey, Kakashi!"

I perked up at the mention of the name and looked ahead to see Kakashi sitting on a bench with a book in hand. Running towards him from my opposite direction was a boy with shiny black bowl-cut hair and bushy eyebrows. He wore a sleeveless jumpsuit with a scarf around his neck.

" _I must have been really out of it if I hadn't noticed that they were in front of me earlier…"_

"Hey, Kakashi! Did you hear?!" The boy said before he paused in front of Kakashi and took the book he was reading. " **How A Shinobi Should Die**? What is this?"

"Give it back." Kakashi replied before snatching the book back from the boy's hands. "What's going on?"

"Oh Yeah!" The spandex wearing individual said, standing ramrod straight. "The Fourth Hokage was just announced!"

" _Ahh, so that's what the fuss is about…"_

At the mention of a new Hokage, Kakashi looked up from his book.

"Don't be surprised!" The boy continued, before he paused, gripping his fists in excitement. "The Fourth Hokage will be Minato Sensei!"

Kakashi's eyes widened.

I could sense a whirlwind of emotions going through him at that statement.

"Man, your sensei is amazing Kakashi!" Guy said with his eyes sparkling.

At that moment, I stopped in front of them. "Isn't that great Kakashi?"

They both paused as they turned their heads towards me.

"…Yoru."

Guy looked between Kakashi and me before whispering to the one that was on the bench, "Who is he, Kakashi? A friend of yours?"

"He's-"

"Something like that." I said as I stepped forward, "My name is Yorudan, no surname. Most people just call me Yoru." Saying so, I stuck out my right hand.

Guy blinked before smiling, "Nice to meet you Yoru!" He said, vigorously shaking my hand before he stopped and took a step back before pointing his thumb to himself. "My name is Might Guy! Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of prey and Kakashi's eternal rival!"

"…I see." I replied while lowering my arm and looking at Kakashi. "I didn't expect that you'd go out of your way to make friends."

Kakashi looked at me for a moment before replying, "Thank you."

I tilted my head.

Kakashi continued, "If it wasn't for you, I would have broken my promise to Obito and lost someone close to me. For that, you have my thanks."

" _Ahh, that…"_

The Hokage had allowed Kakashi to know that Rin was safe and alive just so that he wouldn't completely breakdown with the false belief that he had killed her. However, any mention of her being a Jinchuuriki was kept hidden from him as per the Hokage's order. All he knew was that she was in a coma due to some sort of mental trauma and that she was being taken care of at a secure area.

I looked at Kakashi for a moment then at his book before turning to Guy who was looking at the both of us in confusion. "You said your name was Might Guy was it?"

Guy immediately nodded, "That's right!"

"I see…I know of you."

At that, he rubbed his nose bashfully. "I didn't know my reputation had made it this far."

I continued, "Your father was Might Duy, the **Eternal Genin**."

He stopped at that as his mood became despondent.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at me, "Yoru-"

"Why are you sad?" I asked causing Guy to perk up. "Your father was a man powerful enough to kill 4 of the 7 Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist while also causing the remaining ones to flee, however, this came at the cost of his life." I glanced at Guy more seriously, "He sacrificed himself to save you did he not?"

Guy's expression brightened before he nodded.

"And? How have you been honoring the life he gave up for you?"

"Of course I've been training harder ever since!" Guy began as he gripped his fists, his eyes ablaze with passion. "Father believed that one must have confidence in themselves in order to achieve anything. He believed that one's true youth only ended when one turned their back on their beliefs and joy!" He pumped his fists up to the air, "I believe that with more training, I'll become strong, strong enough to protect what I love! This is why my youth will never fade!"

He then turned his flaming eyes towards me before yelling, "Yosh! I can feel the scalding passion of Youth burning powerfully within me! I won't even able to calm down unless I run 1000 laps around the village on my hands! Then do 10000 push-ups, on my thumbs! Then do 100000 kicks, with my legs! Yoooosh!" With that, he dashed down the path, licking up dust along the way.

I looked at Kakashi who was staring in the direction Guy had vanished to. "If you want to truly honor Obito, then stop dwelling on your failures and sorrows. If you want to prevent that sort of situation from occurring again, then simply strive to improve yourself. Your friend has the right idea even if he is a bit…excitable."

Kakashi didn't reply as he continued to look to the distance.

" _Well, that's all I can really be bothered to do."_ I thought as I began to walk away.

Whether or not he took my words to heart was really not my concern.

" _It's not like I care about him and Rin or anything…"_

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

A couple of months had passed after the announcement of Minato's ascendency to Hokage. He had already been ushered into the job in front of the whole village about a month ago and had been met with overwhelming support and love from the village.

He was a handsome, powerful, and charismatic individual with an impressive track record to say the least. His name sent fear tingling down the spines of his enemies, but to his allies, he was the most dependable individual.

And at this moment, I was standing right in front of him, Kakashi by my side, as he looked at us with a slightly worried look hidden behind his impressive facade. We were in the Hokage office alone with him as he gazed at both of us seriously.

"My wife is pregnant."

"…heh."

" _I know, I was the one who told you that a week ago."_

And it had been _hilarious_.

" _I knew they couldn't help but go at it after that gooey display. I bet they still did it the same night I made fun of them for it…"_

Minato glared at me before sighing in worry. "In any case, I would like the both of you to watch over her during the duration of her pregnancy just in case anything goes wrong. Kakashi-" he began as he turned towards the person in question, "You'll be watching her from the shadows. Think of it as pre-training before I allow you to join ANBU."

Kakashi nodded his head.

That said, The Fourth Hokage turned his gaze towards me, "You're already intimately familiar with how ANBU works, so I'll have you be with her in the light and follow her everywhere she goes." He then smirked, "And you must oblige her _every_ request."

I froze, "You…"

He nodded in satisfaction before leaning back in his chair, "Well that's all for now. Make sure my wife and our child stay safe for 10 months and be by their sides at all times appropriate. It shouldn't be a problem, right?" He said that last part while looking at me.

My eye twitched. " _So petty…"_

He smiled once more, "In that case, you're dismissed."

With that, I left the room with a sour expression. Kakashi followed beside me before giving me a slight look of pity before going his own way.

I sighed. " _I don't deserve this…"_

* * *

 _ **Minato's POV**_

* * *

I watched in pleasure as Yoru left the room dejectedly before my face turned serious as I gazed at the new pieces of information on my desk.

" _This is what the Third meant when he said it would be my problem."_ I thought with a sigh before flipping through the report. " _Over the past few months, the 5 Great Villages have complained that some of their more prominent Kekkei Genkai users have gone missing without a trail…Hiruko."_

From what I gathered about him from my Teacher, Orochimaru, and Tsunade, he had been a frail and weak individual with no aptitude for being a shinobi. Because of his desire to fight side by side and be like the Sannin, he began to delve into forbidden experiments in order to fix his disabilities.

The **Chimera Technique**.

It was truly a terrifying technique, though the conditions and requirements to perfect it were quite stringent. However, if the conditions could be fulfilled, the user of the technique would be more than troublesome to defeat.

I tapped the desk in thought.

" _A friend of the Sannin. No wonder that name had sounded familiar to me at that time. Jiraiya had mentioned him once or twice, usually when he had been drunk.."_

I closed my eyes.

The 4 other Great Villages were not outwardly making any moves, but the tension from the 3rd Great War was still there and they were definitely not calm. The Villages has been sending blames and threats to each other in response to this mess to the point where there were suggestions to hold a Kage Summit.

However, that wasn't the worst part.

" _He used to be one of our own…"_

Regardless of whether Hiruko was now a missing-nin or not, the other Villages would still shift the blame to Konoha if it ever came to light that he had been responsible for this mess and had been a former ninja of the leaf.

I narrowed my eyes. " _And there's the other issue…"_

Rin.

Her situation had already caused the other Villages to be on edge with even our ally Suna shuffling uncomfortably. Having both the strongest Tailed beast in addition to the Three-Tails did not fare well with them.

It was good that we had been able to set the narrative before Kiri had, however, the other villages probably still saw this as a power grab regardless of the message we sent.

Combine this with the fact that one of our missing-nin was kidnapping Kekkei Genkai users for power, it was plainly obvious what kind of issue we were in.

I couldn't help but sigh. " _I can't believe Hiruzen left me with such a problem…"_

Luckily, the Third had already begun working on a plan for Hiruko.

As long as Orochimaru could find a weakness within the technique, then we wouldn't have too much of an issue dealing with the enemy ahead.

I wasn't the most keen on letting him work on something like this, but he was the most qualified for the job. Besides, whenever Yoru was mentioned, he always became much more manageable.

I didn't want to dwell on why that was, so I opted not to think about it.

" _Now then…"_

I looked at the large piles of paper on my desk.

" _Those aren't going to finish themselves are they?"_

* * *

 _ **Yoru's POV**_

* * *

 **Day 1**

I sat down across from Kushina in her home, eyes literally glowing, as I idly pet Mito's head as she sat down next to me in glee.

Fun fact: The 'weak points' that I saw through my **Deconstructive Analysis** also seemed to act as areas of pleasure if stimulated gently.

Kushina looked at me intently before looking down and gripping her fists as if struggling to find the words to say.

Finally, she took a breath.

"Yoru." She began as she looked back up to me. "Before you begin to watch over me, I feel like as your teacher, I am obligated to tell you this."

I continued scratching Mito's hair as her body swayed drowsily in comfort before I replied. "…Ok."

Kushina's eye twitched, "Would it be too much to ask for you to show some more expression? Can't you tell how hard this is for me to say?"

I tilted my head. "You're the one making this difficult. You should know by now that regardless of what you have to tell me, I wouldn't think of you any differently."

Her eyes widened before she smiled and coughed gently into her fist. She then looked at me seriously, "Do you know what happened to all the Tailed Beasts during the First Hokage's era?"

" _Ahh, this is what that's about…"_

I nodded, "The First distributed the tailed beasts to the Five Hidden Villages as a sign of trust and peace." Why he thought that still eludes me to this day but I continued nonetheless, "Suna already had the One-tails: Iwa gained the Four- And Five-Tails; Kumo gained the Two- and Eight-Tails; Kiri gained the Three- and Six-Tails; and finally, we gained the Nine-tails."

Kushina nodded, "That's right. The Nine-Tails was a special Bijuu and could only be contained within an individual with a strong life force, so the First Hokage's wife, Mito Uzumaki, fostered it."

The Mito I was petting perked up slightly at the mention of her name through half-lidded eyes before she slumped down on the side of my chest.

Kushina looked at that with a smile. "She was a powerful woman and someone I respected a lot, so I named my daughter after her." Saying so, she continued on seriously, "Of course Mito's life, like all others, was finite and as she aged, so to did the seal containing the Nine-tails. In order to prevent it from escaping and wreaking havoc, she had to pass on Nine-tails to another vessel and that vessel was me." Kushina completed while looking at me intently.

After staring at her for a while and feeling her anxiety increase, I simply replied, "I know-"

"I know it's a lot to take in and if you want to stay away from me I understand but please know that I still-" she paused her rant and blinked before looking at me, "Hah?"

So I replied, "I know you have the Nine-tails."

She paused at that, looking at me with wide eyes, "But how? And when?"

"Unlike a General sensor, my ability to sense chakra is much more precise. When I first met you at the Ramen Store, my teacher could sense that you had too much chakra, but I could sense both that and the fact that you were hiding another well of chakra. One that was much, much greater and darker than your own." It wasn't the whole truth. I'd always known about her having the Nine-tails, but it was true that my **Energy Resonance** was of a higher caliber in terms of _quality_ that other sensory abilities. I had a shorter range but I could sense energy more distinctly.

Even the Ninetail's chakra couldn't escape my detection, though the seal holding its chakra in place was very strong and I could only sense it when I was very close to Kushina.

Kushina slumped back to her chair and stayed silent for a moment before asking, "How come you never said anything?"

"I figured you'd tell me when you were ready and I never found it to be something worth noting." I stated before continuing, "…Besides, the Nine-tails doesn't change the fact that you're my hot-tempered, beautiful, compassionate teacher."

Kushina's eyes began to glisten before I suddenly found chakra chains wrapped around my body. Without warning, I was pulled into her hug as she rubbed her cheek against mine vigorously. I could feel the tears streaming down her face and decided not to complain about how unnecessary this all was.

After a while, she let go of me and smiled while wiping her cheeks, "Thank you."

"…You're welcome." I replied before thinking to myself, " _This seems to be the best time to bring that up…"_

I looked to Kushina's stomach before asking, "When you were pregnant with Mito, you and Minato went to a secure place in order to give birth to her. I'm assuming that giving birth affects the seal holding the Nine-tails in place does it not?"

Kushina placed me down and chuckled before nodding, "That's right. We went to a secret area that has a powerful barrier that will prevent anyone from coming in. The seal keeping the Ninetails at bay has to be managed as it weakens while I'm giving birth. If it isn't, the Nine-tails could escape."

I nodded my head in agreement, "If that is the case, I want to suggest that you increase the amount of security protecting you this time around while you're giving birth."

Kushina furrowed her brows, "I suppose that won't be a problem, but may I ask why?"

I thought back to the image I had seen in that alternate reality.

The Ninetails going free.

The destruction.

The sadness.

"…I have a bad premonition and I would prefer it doesn't come true." I looked at her deeply, "Promise me that you'll take as much precaution as possible. The worst that could happen is that I'm simply wrong and I made you worry for nothing. I just can't shake this feeling…"

Kushina placed her hands on my shoulders before nodding with a smile, "I suppose there's no harm in that, but that's 10 months away." She said before her smile became less amiable, "Now then, what was that you said about me being hot-tempered?"

"…I truly believed you'd ignore that in the moment."

She chuckled darkly before setting her legs in the table, "I'm sure my husband let you know that I wanted my every desire followed without question."

My eyes widened. "You both schemed me…"

With a _heh_ , she wiggled her toes, "That's right and now, I want a foot rub."

" _And suddenly all the wonderful feelings vanished…"_

All this time, Mito had been peacefully sleeping on the couch.

* * *

 **Day 35**

"Ahh! Isn't the air just so amazing out here?" Kushina said as we walked around the village.

I simply nodded in reply as I looked around at the hubbub of activity going around in the village. Stalls were set up as people tried to garner attention from the passerby's in order to sell their goods.

"Oh! Over there Yoru!" Kushina exclaimed happily as she ran towards the stall of Ichiraku's Ramen store.

I sighed and followed her in.

"Welcome!" The owner said with a smile on his face, "What can I get you?"

Kushina looked at the menu happily before stating, "Let's see…I'll have 5 bowls-"

"1." I said, cutting her off. "She'll only have one bowl."

She narrowed her eyes at me, "What do you think you are doing?"

"Making sure you eat healthy so that your child is born healthy. No more than one bowl per day."

She furrowed her brows before giving a _tsk_ , "Fine, make it _one_ bowl of beef ramen-"

"With extra vegetables." I concluded. "This is for your own good and that of your child."

She twitched her eyes, "With extra vegetables…"

Teuchi looked between the both of us and simply shrugged before turning his gaze towards me. "And you?"

Figuring that it would be rude to come into his store and not order anything, I simply ordered the same thing Kushina had. "Beef with extra vegetables."

Didn't really matter what I put into my body but I didn't want to tempt Kushina by picking anything else.

After obtaining and eating our food, we paid and left the store and continued our trek down the busy afternoon road.

"I only got to have one bowl…" Kushina complained with her head down.

I inwardly rolled my eyes.

"My cabbages!"

I blinked and looked ahead only to see a cart of cabagges rolling down the street at high velocities. The owner of the cabbage cart could not keep up with the cart and pointed at it with tearful eyes, "Someone, please stop my cabbages!"

The people on the road screamed and parted on other sides of the road as the cart traveled down towards us.

Kushina watched the spectacle oddly while I simply sighed.

"You two! Watch out!" The cabbage man said as the cart approached us.

As it headed closer to us, I lightly tapped my foot on the ground, causing a wall of earth to erupt in front of us. The cabbage cart crashed into the earthen wall, worsen splinters and cabbages sent frying everywhere from the impact.

Only after lowering the wall did I see the cabbage man crawling forward with his hands on his head in despair, "M-My Cabbages…"

I took out a few ten thousand Ryo and gave it to him. "…That should cover most of it including the cart."

The man blinked and shakily took the money before looking up at me with tear-filled eyes, "T-thank you!"

"Yoru." Kushina said, looking at me, "I wanted some of those cabbages…"

I ignored her.

* * *

 **Day 70**

"Yoruuuuu! I want a sandwich!"

Kushina wined on the living room couch as I massaged her shoulders.

I furrowed my brows, "…I'm afraid to ask, but what do you want on it this time?"

She licked her lips with a smile. "Let's see…I want a tuna sandwich."

I blinked. " _That's actually normal-"_

"Hmm, then I want peanut butter and jelly on it as well."

" _Aaand I spoke too soon."_

"Also, Also! I want spinach! I need to be healthy for my baby you know!"

I stopped rubbing her shoulders and sighed. "Is that it?"

She put on a thoughtful expression before brightening, "Oh! How could I forget? Make sure you put on _lots_ of pickles in it!"

My lips twisted in distaste at the thought of making such an abomination, but I had no choice but to nod in agreement. "…Fine, I'll go make your food."

She giggled in glee so I left to fulfill her twisted desires and headed towards the kitchen. With a few searches around the area, I was able to find all the ingredients that I needed.

With the bread, spinach, peanut butter, jelly, tuna, and most importantly _pickles_ , I had everything set for what was not even close to the most disgusting thing I've had to make for her.

I actually had a list in the deepest recesses of my scarred mind.

I looked at all the ingredients and carefully combined them together in between the bread buns before I held the sandwich in between the palms of both of my hands.

With a little bit of heat generated to both hands, I cooked the bread through and placed it on a plate.

My nose crinkled at the nauseating smell of my creation.

" _Good thing my_ _ **Cooking**_ _can make this thing palatable…"_

With that, I brought the plate over to Kushina, who was waiting eagerly and placed it down in front of her.

"Ohh! I can't wait!" She said heartedly before immediately reaching in and grabbing the sandwich. With a single large bite, half of it disappeared as Kushina closed her eyes and slowly chewed on the sustenance.

After a while, she swallowed and hummed in thought, "…Hey Yoru?"

"…Yes?"

She turned to look at me seriously, "I don't know, but this one doesn't taste authentic."

I raised a brow. "Authentic? What do you even mean?"

"Well you know…" she said while gesturing with her hands, "It doesn't taste fresh enough. Kind of like it's been processed."

"That's how most food is though…"

"And that's the problem!" She complained. "I can't have my baby eating this kind of junk!"

I sighed, "Then what do you want me to do about it? Go around and get all those ingredients from scratch-"

I immediately regretted it as soon as those words came out of my mouth.

Kushina beamed, "Yes!"

"Pickles are literally processed to become what they are and take days to finish. What do you want time to do about that?" I said, in an effort to dissuade her.

She stopped to think for a moment before sighing. "I suppose there's nothing to be done then…"

Just as I sighed in relief-

"Just don't add them in then!" She completed.

I froze.

" _I hate my life…"_

"Well? Go on now, I'll be waiting!"

My eyelids twitched so I promptly left the house and took a sigh before looking up to the barely rising sun.

It was only around 6:00 in the morning hence the reason why Mito hadn't been around us earlier as she had been nicely tucked into sleep.

The joys of being her age…

" _Well when I was her age, I was undergoing grueling and cruel training to become a killer so…"_

I shook my head from those thoughts and went on to complete Kushina's insane requests. Minato was off doing Hokage business and I could sense Kakashi near the house as he stood guard over it in order to watch Kushina.

With that, I made my way over to a nearby lake after hopping across the village and stood at its bank. My **Energy Resonance** easily picked up the weak energy signatures of the fish below so with a flick of my wrist, I impaled a tuna.

After collecting my prize and putting it inside my **Inventory** , I went over to the market area of Konoha and picked up some fresh berries before placing them in my personal pocket dimension as well. I didn't stop at that and also bought whole wheat grain, peanuts, and spinach.

With that, I went back to Kushina's place and entered the door before quickly moving to the kitchen.

"Oh! Yoru you're back!" Kushina yelled front the living room. "I'll be waiting here for my sandwich!"

I ignored her and focused on the matter at hand.

Kushina already had yeast so it was easy to activate it with some water generated from the molecules in the air. With that in addition to a little sugar and dough, I let it activate for a moment before I moved on to my next activity.

" _This will be tricky…"_ I thought as I looked at the whole grain and thought for a moment before getting a large container and placing a sufficient amount of whole wheat grain inside.

After covering it up, I placed my hand on top of the container and _really_ concentrated my chakra. I formed a very small swirling ball of energy within the container to grind up the whole wheat grain into fine flour for my usage.

Next, I took some of the flour and put it in the activated yeast and mixed it with my **Rasengan** once more until it had the consistency I desired. With that, I let it sit to the side.

" _I wonder how Minato would feel if he found out that I was using his famous jutsu for cooking…"_

The thought amused me greatly.

While the dough was left to rise, I took out the tuna fish I had in my inventory and cleaned it up before filleting it into little pieces. After turning on the stove with the pan on top of it, I placed my fish inside and heard the amazing sizzle that I had been expecting. With some seasoning and olive oil, the smell was incredible.

I sighed. " _I'm going to have to ruin this delicious dish…"_

I decided that I would save some more Mito who had normal taste buds.

With that, I used the same process for the peanuts that I used for the flour in addition to a little bit of oil and honey for flavor.

" _Peanut butter complete…"_

I checked on the fish and flipped it to its side before focusing on my Jam.

I crushed the strawberries and added them to a pan with sugar and lemon juice. I cooked it, transferred it to a covered jar, and began to process it in water.

I checked back on my tuna and seeing as it was well done, I put it in my inventory for freshness.

It took me approximately 2 hours to have everything prepared from having the bread dough rise and cooking it to finishing up making my jelly.

With everything set up before me, I sliced up a couple of bread pieces and spread on some peanut butter and jelly before placing it in my inventory.

" _Mito should be awake at any minute…"_

Next, I did the same process once more, but in addition, I added the cooked tuna, and spinach.

"Yoooooruuuuu! Are you done yet?! I'm huungryyyy!"

I took a deep calming breath and walked out of the kitchen to the living room where Kushina was waiting for me expectantly once more.

As soon as I placed the dish down, she grabbed and devoured it in a few seconds before sighing in contentment. "Ahh that was good…" she then yawned and laid down on the couch before waving me off, "I'm tired now so you can go do something else." And with that, she drifted off to sleep.

I looked at Kushina's smooth neck…

My fingers twitched…

I took a breath and closed my eyes before shaking my head. " _I'll literally die if I tried…"_

"Hmm, Yoru~?" Mito stated as she appeared in the living room while rubbing her sleepy eyes. "Mommy's still sleeping?"

"Ignore her." I said before walking towards her, picking her up, and sitting her down on the dining room table.

At her confused look, I took out the Peanut butter sandwich I had saved for her and placed it in front of her. "Eat up, I made it all from scratch."

Mito blinked before smiling widely, "Thank you for the food!"

I rubbed her head before moving away and watching her eat my sandwich from a distance. Every bite she took caused her feet to swing subconsciously and her expression to brighten up with glee.

" _She's too cute…"_

* * *

 **Day 140**

I was sitting down next to Kushina massaging her legs in the living room.

I sighed to myself, " _I hope something happens soon that takes me away from this torture…"_

"That feels so good Yoru!" The redhead said in glee as she leaned back into the chair with her eyes closed.

" _God help me…"_

I felt a high-level chakra signature approach Kakashi who was outside the house before it promptly vanished. No sooner did Kakashi immediately move to the front door of the house and walk in with more emotion that I'd seen on him in years.

"Hmm?" Kushina stated as she peeled open her eyes and stood up slightly before asking the white-haired Jonin, "Kakashi, what's wrong?"

He quivered slightly before saying. "Rin…She's awake."

The atmosphere froze.

Kushina's eyes widened and she quickly stood up from the chair. "We have to go there immediately!"

Internally, I thanked that deity that had answered my prayers. Now I could just stay here while they all went over to where Rin was kept. I could wait here until Mito came back from the academy and if I was lucky, they would stay there the entire day and I'd have the house all to my-

Kushina looked at me "Yoru!"

I felt a disturbing premonition, "…Yes?"

She grabbed my arm, "You are coming with us. Let's go!"

The force of her grip prevented me from doing anything against her and I was essentially kidnapped as she dragged me across the village. In no time, we arrived at the Hospital where Rin was being kept before checking in with the nurses and making our way up to her room.

Rin had been moved to the normal hospital some time ago after the then Third Hokage had made sure there had been no leaks as to the identity of the Three-Tails. Of course, the only individuals who had been allowed to interact with her had been Kazemona herself who came by regularly to check on her mental state and Tsunade who checked on her physical health to make sure her muscles weren't being atrophied too quickly.

There was no need to mention Minato who came by occasionally to check on her seal.

Kushina was too busy ordering me around to do so.

Eventually, we stopped in front of a secluded room on the topmost level of the hospital.

As Kakashi looked at the door with misty eyes, Kushina placed her arm around his shoulder in comfort, "We'll go in together."

" _Why do I have to be dragged into this?"_

My things went unanswered as Kakashi nodded and pushed open the door.

There in the room was the Fourth Hokage himself along with Kazemona (Who was visibly more than half-way through her pregnancy) and Tsunade all huddled around Rin's bed.

The girl in question perked up at the sound of the opening door and looked towards us and smiled, "I'm back."

Kakashi stood there stock still as he gazed at her visage, his eyes slowly becoming misty in the process. "Rin…"

He slowly walked up to the side of her bed and kneeled down before tears began to pour freely down his face. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" he muttered multiple times as he clenched his fists.

Rin leaned to his side and wrapped her arms around Kakashi's neck before bringing him in closer to her. "This was something I decided on myself so please don't cry."

That didn't stop the tears from streaming down his face as they stood there in silence.

"Well, I'm going to go before I ruin the mood." Kazemona stated as she supported herself and began to move out of the room.

Her hand was suddenly grabbed by Rin. "Thank you for everything you did for me. If it wasn't for you…"

"I was simply doing my job…" Kazemona said before she smiled, "But you're welcome."

With a smile, Rin let go, allowing Kazemona to exit the room. She gave me a gentle pat on the head and nodded to Kushina before leaving the premises.

"I was able to prevent her muscles from deteriorating too much and by stimulating her motor nerve activity over these past months, I prevented her from forgetting how to walk." Tsunade began to explain to quietly Minato as she watched Rin. "She'll probably still need a week or two to regain complete fine motor control, but she otherwise should be alright."

Minato nodded in appreciated, "Thank you for your continued help Lady Tsunade."

She lightly smiled, "Of course, it's my duty after all." She then glanced at Rin once more. "If there's nothing else, I will take my leave."

Minato shook his head, "No, I'll be handling everything else from here, you may take your leave."

Tsunade nodded and left the room soon after.

After consoling Kakashi for a little while longer, Rin looked up at me beaming, "Yoru!" She opened her arms to invite me into her embrace.

While I was thinking about how to avoid this-

"Go on!" Kushina said as she shoved me forward, the force propelling me straight into Rin's open arms.

She quickly capitalized on the opportunity and wrapped her arm around my neck before quietly saying, "Thank you for saving my life… and giving me a new heart."

I think Kakashi flinched a little behind me.

"…I was simply-"

"Doing your job?" Rin finished with a smile. "Iso-kun told me that if it wasn't for you, even he wouldn't have been able to save me."

I paused at the strange name.

"Iso-kun?" I asked. I turned around to see that everyone else here was as confused as I was.

Rin nodded heartily, "I prefer not to call him this, but he's the Three-Tails."

Pin

Drop

Silence.

Kakashi looked at Rin in surprise, "Rin what are you-"

Minato cut him off with a sigh as he looked at Kakashi, "I suppose it's unfair to keep it from you. I'm sure you want to know why she did what she did, so I'll have her explain." He looked to Rin, "If you don't mind?"

Rin shook her head and released me before saying, "I don't really remember where I was taken to as I was blindfolded along the way, however, I only know that they sealed Iso-kun into me."

She paused for a moment and continued, "I knew that they had deliberately lowered their security after Kakashi easily tracked and broke me out of the place I had been kept in. From what I remember, the moment I got into Konoha, Iso-Kun would break free and most likely rampage across the village, causing a lot of destruction to us."

She then blinked and smiled, "Iso-Kun says that he wouldn't bother doing something so troublesome."

Kakashi's eyes were wide as he asked, "Then why did you jump in front of me? As long as Sensei and his wife were around, they could have easily prevented that."

Rin shook her head, "They placed a cursed seal on my heart that prevented me from telling you anything about it and also prevented me from taking my own life." She looked at him in remorse, "I apologize for forcing you to do that, I just didn't want Konoha to be destroyed…"

At Kakashi's silence, Kushina asked the question that had been most on my mind, "Wait, why do you call the Three-Tails 'Iso-kun'? Do all the Bijuu actually have names?"

Rin nodded, "His name is Isobu and he's actually quite nice. He never really meant to hurt anyone, however being forced into people for many years soured his mood. Also…" She began, pointing her finger at Kushina's stomach, "He says to tell his big brother he said 'hi'."

Kushina's eyes widened.

Minato slapped the side of his face.

Kakashi looked confused, "Big brother? What does that mean?"

"Don't worry about it." Minato said in exhaustion as he looked at Rin with a strained smile, "In any case, you are alright now, so get some rest. I'll be checking up on you periodically to make sure everything is alright."

Rin nodded readily before looking at Kushina, "Thank you so much for coming Kushina-san and congratulations!" She finished while focusing on Kushina's protruding stomach.

"Ahh! You're just so cute!" The redhead stated as she approached and embraced Rin for a moment. "Get some rest will you?"

Rin nodded, "I will, thank you!"

Kushina supplanted a kiss on her forehead before grabbing my arm and Minato's arm and dragging us out of the room. "You two catch up!" She said to Kakashi and Rin before she closed the door behind her.

With that, she took a breath before looking at Minato, "What do you think?"

"About the fact that the tailed beasts are highly intelligent creatures? About the fact that they have names? About the fact that they are related? Or about the fact that there's someone there with enough skill to place that kind of cursed tag on her?"

"…Yes." I replied.

They shot me a look before ignoring me.

Kushina sighed, "I never even considered the thought that the Ninetails was intelligent. It had always been explained to me as a monster…"

I blinked, "You never tried to talk to it? Not even once?"

She smiled sourly, "Well…I usually just went to yell at it whenever I was having a bad day and then I would leave soon after. I've never actually tried to communicate with it…"

I raised a brow.

Minato sighed, "In any case, Rin and the three tails seem to have a good relationship so I'm not worried in that end, however…" he looked at Kushina's stomach while scratching his chin, "I had no idea they could sense each other at close distance…are you planning on talking to it?"

Kushina's lips twitched, "With the type of seal that's been used on it and considering how long it's been with me, I'm not really sure it'll want to have a conversation…"

"…It's worth a try." I began. "The worst it could do is straight out ignore you…or roar at you…and curse you…and taunt-"

"I think I get the point." Kushina replied before sighing. "In any case, with Rin back we can rest a little easier."

"That's right." The Hokage replied before planting a kiss on Kushina and rubbing her stomach, "I'll be home soon but for now, I'll be a little bit busy. Say hi to Mito for me."

Kushina looked up at him brightly, "Of course."

Minato smiled and patted my head as he walked by before disappearing into the distance.

As she watched Minato disappear, she grabbed my arm. "When we get home I'm going to try talking to the fox. How hard could it be?"

* * *

 **Day 280**

"Motherfu-!"

I covered Kushina's mouth as I sensed Mito's chakra signature at the door. "I don't think that's the kind of language you should be using when your daughter is close by."

She glared at me before taking a deep breath and grinding her teeth, "But this stupid fox is so infuriating! Every time I try to talk to him, it just ridicules and laughs at me then it starts to insult Mito Uzumaki (the First Hokage's wife) and then me and then my clan…ARG!" It sounded like there was much more she wanted to say, but she held her breath as Mito's footsteps approached.

"Mom, Yoru, I'm home!" Mito yelled excitedly as she approached us with a skip in her step.

I scratched her head while she gave me a hug before she moved on and embraced her mother.

Kushina gave her a motherly smile, "Welcome home, Mito. How was the academy today?"

Separating herself from her mother, Mito answered, "It was the same as usual. Basic drills and kunai accuracy tests, but…oh!" She suddenly exclaimed as if she remembered something, "Today the teacher in charge taught me about human vital points and how to best target them!"

"Oh?" Kushina said with a raised brow, "What did you learn then?"

Mito searched for a moment before pulling out a dull wooden Kunai and gripping it. "Well he said to hold it kind of like this…" and then she brought the point up to let mother's neck, "…And attack here."

Kushina shook her head slightly and gently grabbed Mito's arm before adjusting its positioning. She then shifted her legs a little to give me a more stable balance. "First you want to aim for the jugular where the blood travels up to the brain. As long as you can get a solid nick in, the enemy will spill blood all over."

Mito's eyes widened before she nodded excitedly.

Kushina smiled at her daughter's enthusiasm and continued, "Next, you want to push into your enemy slightly and get them off balance so that you can restrain them…"

Mito nodded once more.

Kushina began to fix Mito's flaws and explain to her efficient methods of killing while I just listened in interest. All the best ways to target the heart, throat, lungs, groin, and brain while also properly handling her weapon.

I idly wondered if this was what a normal family was like…

I looked outside at the afternoon sky and thought for a moment.

" _It's been a little quiet as of late…I wonder if some new development will pop up…"_

"Ahh before I forget." I heard Kushina say as she looked at Mito seriously. "Tomorrow there's supposed to be a solar eclipse and I might forget to remind you then so I'm doing it now. Whatever you do, don't look up at the sun alright?"

She rolled her eyes, "I know mom, I'm not dumb."

Kushina began to roughly pinch her daughter's cheeks causing. "Cheeky kid."

Mito girl to groaned and rubbed her cheeks in protest.

Suddenly, the door to the house was opened and Kakashi came in with an intensely serious look on his face. "Yoru, you need to come outside and look at this."

I blinked.

"Kakashi, what's wrong?" Kushina asked.

He shook his head, "I don't really know how to explain it…in any case, come outside!"

I furrowed my brows and looked to Kushina.

She nodded and grabbed her daughter's hand. "Let's take a look."

As soon as we went outside and looked at the direction Kakashi was looking at, I finally understood the urgency.

Up in the sky in the distance, a large image of a young white haired boy was being projected. It was the image of a boy with white-haired and red eyes dressed in an over-sized, high-collared coat wrapped with three leather straps and he had bandages on his up to his nose.

" **My name is that of a ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village, Hiruko!"**

The projection began.

I grimaced, " _Did I jinx this…?"_

* * *

 **Author's Note: stuff will pick back up next chapter.**

 **Stat Update**

 **Tier: 7-B+**

 **Age:** 10.2 **\- 10.99**

 **Level:** 93 **\- 96**

 **HP:** 342715 **\- 399599**

 **CP:** 546480 **\- 633076**

 **STR:** 1325 **\- 1440**

 **VIT:** 1334 **\- 1451**

 **DEX:** 1331 **\- 1445**

 **INT:** 1020 **\- 1155**

 **WIS:** 1005 **\- 1140**

 **ENGY:** 1807 **\- 1968**

 **Points:** 235

 **Skill Update:**

 **Cooking:** lvl 165 **\- lvl 170**

 **Deconstructive Analysis:** lvl 21 **\- lvl 30**

 **Gamer's Body:** lvl 170 **\- lvl 180**

 **ID Create:** lvl 45 **\- lvl 49**

 **ID Escape:** lvl 45 **\- lvl 49**

 **Kawarimi:** lvl 90 **\- lvl 100 MAX**

 **Lying:** lvl 93 **\- lvl 95**

 **Toxin Resistance:** lvl 92 **\- lvl 94**

 **Physical Conditioning:** lvl 91 **\- lvl 96**

 **Rasengan:** lvl 45 **\- lvl 50 MAX [Unlocked: Big Ball Rasengan]**

 **Shadow Clone Jutsu:** lvl 400 **\- lvl 420**

 **Shunshin:** lvl 140 **\- lvl 155**

 **Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu:** lvl 92 **\- lvl 94**

 **Rain Sennin** : to be honest, it's not like Yoru is _incapable_ of feeling love, it's just a bit difficult due to his mindset. If anything, he would most likely sleep around without trying to get too attached. I'm really not sure if I will _pair_ him but I'll honestly try to let the story write himself and who knows, he might end up with someone or a few people.

 **Boblets** : Context matters. When he first found Kakashi and Rin, they were in an encirclement of Kiri Anbu. Rin already had her heart ripped out and a clone wasn't going to help at that point. Do tell how he would have the time to focus on slaughtering them? Besides, if the character in the story is saying he is that strong and the _author_ is telling you he is that strong and you _still_ don't believe it...then I really don't know what else to say man lol.


	21. Chapter 21

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

" **Using our Chimera Jutsu, four of the Kekkei Genkai from each of the great ninja villages are already mine."**

The gargantuan projection of Hiruko explained as he continued to monologue his entire plan.

" _He has 4 already…that's probably not good."_

" **When I obtain the fifth and final Kekkei Genkai, I will become invincible…a perfect immortal ninja."**

" _Why is he telling us his grand plan? Isn't that just inviting everyone to stop him? Wouldn't it be better to just obtain whatever he needs quietly and_ then _take over the world?"_

Was I the only one with these thoughts?

" **With that power, I will descend the shinobi villages into a Great Ninja War and I will rule over everything."**

With his message delivered, the projection vanished from the sky.

There was a moment of silence.

Kushina narrowed her eyes, "If I wasn't 10 months pregnant right now, I would personally go out and smack his face."

Kakashi continued to focus his forlorn gaze in the distance. "…We've just suffered through a Great Ninja War, yet he wants to drag us into one again."

There wasn't much anyone else could say at that statement.

Suddenly I perked up.

Mito smiled, "Dad!"

Minato patted his daughter's head before he looked at me gravely. "I'm going to assume you already know the situation."

I nodded, "…It was kind of hard to miss." I looked to the distance where Hiruko had set up his projection, "Rin's situation was already complicated enough, but now this…"

Minato sighed while gently running his hands through his hair, "Even after all the effort we made to block any information about him. I didn't think he'd have such a technique that would screw us over."

"And now the other nations are going to be at our front doors." I stated

"… What about our relationship it's Suna?" Kakashi asked.

Minato smiled wryly, "They've been on edge since they found out we gained possession of the Three-Tails. At this point, the most we can hope from them is that they don't try to attack us."

Kushina sighed deeply, "All this stress is not good for my baby. You all better figure this out in the next few days because I won't bring my child into another Shinobi War."

"Don't worry." Minato began with a smile, "We'll figure this out. You can count on me." He concluded while gently stroking Kushina's face.

As she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch…

"Am I going to get another sibling after?" Mito asked innocently.

Minato and Kushina froze before they stared at me.

I blinked, "You can't blame this on me."

Minato just shook his head and looked at me before saying, "Come with me to my office. I'll explain to you and a small group of others our plan." He then turned his gaze to Kakashi before saying, "Continue on with your duty."

Kakashi nodded.

With that, Minato placed a hand on my shoulder before our surroundings shifted and _warped_ in my view. Not only that, but I now sensed three familiar and powerful chakra signatures inside the Hokage's office.

"Ohh? You brought the little one in here too Minato?" Jiraiya's voice rang out soon after our appearance.

Minato nodded before sitting on his chair. "That's right, it's easier for me if you are all here right now."

I decided to move around his table and face the Hokage alongside the 3 Sannin.

Seeing this, Minato then continued. "Over the past year or so, the previous Hokage and I have been gathering intel on Hiruko in the inevitable scenario that we would have to confront him." He then exhaled lightly. "We hadn't thought the situation would be this large but regardless, a few days ago, we were able to locate his whereabouts."

Jiraiya furrowed his brows, "That's a little…"

"Convenient?" Minato completed with a smile. "That's what I was thinking as well, however, the trail of his most recent victims ends there and it's the only lead we have."

"So?" Tsunade began. "Where exactly is our body stealing friend hiding out?"

Minato nodded. "The intel says that they found a base at Mt. Shumisen in the Kōrin range on the border of the Hidden Stone Village in the Land of Earth and the Hidden Grass.

" _I remember that area…It was around where my very first mission took place…and where I killed someone for the first time…good times."_

Minato continued. "The scouts fought against odd chimeric beasts not unlike the ones that are in your lab right nor Orochimaru. They were, however, more stable and seemed to be more complete and stronger versions of the ones Hiruko had been working with in the past."

The man slightly narrowed his eyes in intrigue. "Fascinating. Our next course of action then?"

"That's why you are all here." Minato said before looking at Tsunade, "In preparation for the encroachment of enemies on our borders, I would like you to delegate medic-nin to the field in correspondence with the number of shinobi we already have out there. I'll have information about our deployment delivered to you."

"Understood, Lord Hokage."

Minato scratched the back of his head, "You don't have to be so respectful you know, just Minato is fine. You three are still my seniors…"

"You calling me _old_?" Tsunade said with a glare.

Minato blinked, "Well no-"

Jiraiya coughed, gaining Minato's attention and preventing Tsunade from responding in turn and derailing this meeting into something meaningless.

With that Minato strained a smile before adopting a serious countenance and gazing at Orochimaru. "Have you found a weakness to his ability?"

He grinned, "I have, but I need just a few more hours to complete it. Trust me when I say that it will be _very_ effective."

Minato nodded, seemingly relaxed a little bit, before he gazed at Jiraiya, "Sensei, I'll have you watch the border between us and Sand and try to delegate. I don't want us to break ties with them if possible."

Jiraiya rubbed his chin. "That will be just a bit tough. With this situation and that other one, it'll be difficult to calm them down…"

"I know." Minato said. "And that's where Yoru comes in."

I blinked, "Me?"

He nodded. "I have a specific mission for you that will more than likely halt any thought of invasion from Suna and may allow us to even gain their help."

At this, the rest of us were intrigued.

"To put so much faith in him…" Jiraiya said rubbing his chin and looking my way before smiling. "Well, what's this special mission you have?"

"Do you all recall that the Third Kazekage disappeared a couple years back during the War?" Minato asked.

Jiraiya's eyes instantly widened causing the visions of Tsunade and Orochimaru to be surprised.

"Well?" Tsunade began in irritation. "Don't just leave us out of the loop."

Jiraiya actually ignored her and looked at Minato seriously, "Do you think he can handle this alone?"

Minato looked at me to which I simply looked back at him cluelessly.

He smiled, "Maybe, maybe not, but I plan to have him bring someone along if he feels the need to."

Jiraiya closed his eyes in thought and nodded for a moment. "I see."

"I would really appreciate it if you both allowed me to understand what you were talking about." The blond Sannin said with a frown.

Minato explained, "To be honest, the Third Hokage and I had somewhat planned for the scenario in which Hiruko's ties to us were found, so at the very least we thought of how we could keep Sand on our side. We figured that we could find the person they had been looking for after all these years and at least prevent them from moving against us."

"I was tasked with finding any information about the Third through my extensive network and only through some chance was I able to come up with a name." Jiraiya spoke gravely. "Sasori of the Red Sand."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "What does the puppeteer have to do with the Third Kazekage's disappearance?"

"Apparently, everything." Jiraiya stated. "During one of his excursions, he was seen with a puppet that was using the Third Kazekage's **Magnet Style** iron sand. It was in a remote country so the news likely wouldn't have ever made it over here to the elemental nations if not for my web barely reaching that far."

Tsunade raised a brow and looked at Minato, "I see what you're thinking. If we can get the Third Kazekage's Body back for Suna, they'll be more than likely grateful enough to step back. However, you're going to have him face off against someone who could take down someone of the Third Kazekage's caliber?"

Minato shook his head. "The mission objective is to primarily secure the Kazekage's body, not to collect a bounty. As long as the body is secure…" Minato stated before pulling out of of his tri-pronged kunai. "…Then I can just pick him up." Saying so, he handed it to me.

Ping!

* * *

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Red Iron Sand!**

 **Based on Jiraiya's intelligence network, it has been found that Sasori of the Red Sand is in position of the Third Kazekage's corpse. Your duty is to retrieve it safely and intact in order to return it to the Hidden Sand Village.**

 **Reward: 250,000 EXP**

 **Failure: Death**

* * *

"…I should be able to handle it." I stated as I took the weapon. "But I'll probably need a little backup."

If I went alone and faced such an opponent, I didn't doubt I could win if I decided to say 'fuck it' and just blow myself and my opponent up, but that would probably also destroy the mission objective.

With that said.

I looked at the Hokage, "If Itachi is still in the Village, I'll use his assistance."

The Hokage agreed to my request. "I'll see to it." He then looked at Jiraiya.

"Hold on just a moment." Tsunade said as she centralized her vision on me. "A team is not complete unless it has at least one medic-nin. You don't think I'll let you leave with only one other person do you?"

When Tsunade had officially returned to the village a couple of years ago (as a result of yours truly), she had brought with her a variety of reforms for the current team system in Konoha. It was mandatory for the shinobi with the best chakra control of the graduating classes to take intensive Medical training classes. This had also helped reduce our casualties during the war in the long run.

That being said.

"…I should be able to heal myself if-"

"No." She said simply, cutting me off. "While your ability can heal bodily injuries quite effectively, that's its only purpose. You have little official training as a medic-nin. What will you do if you are drugged or poisoned? Or you become infected with something unknown?"

I paused for a moment. "Well, my body is resistant to poisons-"

"Resistant?" She asked with a raised brow. "But not immune? My point then still stands. Besides, I'm pretty sure that Itachi doesn't have your body so if you plan on taking a partner with you on this mission, you'll go with a full team of three."

I could see that she wasn't really going to budge on this. I wasn't sure if it was because she cared for me, didn't want me to die, or because she liked her rules followed. Regardless, I nodded in agreement, "Alright then, who do you suggest I take with me?"

"Rin." Tsunade said.

Minato considered. "Are you sure that's the best decision."

"Why not?" The blonde Sannin rhetorically asked. "Kiri doesn't know who she is, only that she exists, and with that there's no one else from the other nations who would be able to identify her. Furthermore, I've been teaching her everything I could during these past 5 months. She'll be able to handle herself well enough. That also reminds me…" she looked at me. "I think her control is enough for your seal."

Minato nodded. "I'll trust your judgement on this. Now then, Sasori of the Red Sand?" He asked, looking at Jiraiya.

The white haired man sighed before adopting a serious expression. "From my reports, Sasori was last spotted around the ruins of the city of Rōran. Possibly to look for more puppet parts, or because of the scenery but I can't be sure."

Minato suddenly frowned. "I sealed off the Ryūmyaku vein of that city so he shouldn't be there for that at the very least." he shook his head before looking at me, "Alright, now that you know where to go you can start preparing. I'll have someone contact Itachi."

I nodded. "If he declines then don't worry too much about it, I'll probably be fine regardless."

If Sasori did make a human puppet out of the Third Kazekage, it was likely weaker than the original. Factoring in my abilities, I should be able to scrape a win even if I was alone as long as I played it smart. Though there was also the fact that he had been able to kill the Third Kazekage in the first place…

"Here." Jiraiya stated before tossing me a scroll he had puffed from his storage seal. "That's all the information my spies have been able to gather including his disguises and some of his abilities. It's not much but it should help you a little bit."

I slightly bowed in thanks before storing the scroll.

"Alright, you all are dismissed." Minato stated.

I nodded before adding. "Let my partners know that I'll be at the front of the gate."

Minato nodded. "They'll know."

I bowed then I left.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

I leaned on the wall next to the large exit path that would lead me out of Konoha and looked at the blank space in front of me.

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Race: Human?**

 **Age: 10.99 years old**

 **Level: Lvl 96 Next Level: 258700/471000**

 **HP: 397201/397201 Regen: (10923 per min)**

 **CP: 633076/** **633076** **Regen: (23740 per min)**

 **CC: 100%**

 **STR: 493 (292%) = 1440**

 **VIT: 497 (292%) = 1451**

 **DEX: 495 (292%) = 1445**

 **INT: 385 (300%) = 1155**

 **WIS: 380 (300%) = 1140**

 **ENGY: 400 (492%) = 1968**

 **Points: 235**

 **Ryo: 6,355,348**

I wasn't really sure what would be the most appropriate distribution of points for the coming mission, but I would be damned if I didn't get my first three stats to **500**

Ping!

* * *

 **Due to your STR reaching 500, your skill [Dense Muscles II] has evolved to [Dense Muscles III]**

 **Dense muscle III (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **Dense muscle is a skill given to those with overwhelming Strength. The denseness of your muscled increases greatly, allowing you to suffer less damage form physical attacks.**

 **Increase Durability equal to your STR x 5 value.**

* * *

 **Due to your VIT reaching 500, your skill [Thick Skin] has evolved to [Thick Skin II]**

 **Thick Skin II (Passive) Lvl MAX**

 **Thick Skin is your body's natural outer defenses that depend upon your maximum HP value. It increases your final durability equal to 5% of your HP value.**

 **DUR increased by 5% HP**

* * *

 **Due to your DEX reaching 500, your skill [Hawkeyes II] has evolved to [Hawkeyes III]**

 **Hawkeyes III (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **Hawkeyes III is a skill granted to those with incredible natural vision. With this ability, every point the user has in Dexterity x 5 is a meter long increase to their natural vision range. It also allows the user to see in the dark. (I.e. a DEX stat of 200 [including bonuses] would increase your maximum vision range by 1000 meters.)**

* * *

" _Beautiful…"_ I thought to myself as I gazed at the perfectly even numbers.

My next course of action was to blow away 115 stat points on **INT** since it had been hard to make it and **WIS** catch up to my first three stats. **ENGY** was a non-issue since the passive multipliers I got for it were immense.

Ping!

* * *

 **Due to your INT reaching 500, you have gained the skill, [Parallel Processes]**

 **Parallel Processes (Passive) Lvl Max**

 **Parallel Processes** **allows your brain to simultaneously process two completely different sets of information. One part of your brain is almost completely independent of the other and can work subconsciously while the other part works consciously. When both parts of your mind focus on a singular task, your processing capabilities are quadrupled.**

* * *

Immediately, I could feel an alien phenomena occur within my mind as something akin to a second brain seemed to form. I looked around the world, my mind **s** taking in and processing information at a pace much more rapidly than I had ever done before.

" _Neat…"_ I thought to myself before another thought came to mind. " _I'll have it work on that other project for now…"_ The project in question was one that would significantly increase Mito's life expectancy when completed.

As soon as I delegated the role to my new mind, I immediately felt a sense of loss as my processing capabilities returned to "normal".

I gave myself a moment to readjust before I focused on the screen in front of me. With only 105 stat points left, I put 20 into **WIS** to give it an even 400 and closed my screen.

With that, I took out the scroll Jiraiya had given me and read through the contents.

" _Rōran huh…"_

Rōran was a kingdom surrounded by a desert in the Land of Wind. Now, it was simply a city in ruins. I didn't really know the specifics because I had been off on a mission at the time, but I knew that Minato had sealed off the city's chakra vein after defeating some idiotic megalomaniac who had planned on using it to take over the world.

I halted my thoughts and put down the mission scroll before looking in front of me. "…You decided to come."

Itachi looked at me plainly before nodding.

I internally sighed.

Some time ago on a simple escort mission, Itachi had lost both of his teammates. The escort had been slaughtered as well, their bodies staining the grass with blood. I didn't know the specifics like who attacked or why, but ever since then, he'd been a lot quieter.

"Yoru!" A feminine voice exclaimed from the distance.

I turned my head and gazed at Rin's quickly approaching figure as she waved at me while smiling. In but a few moments, she arrived in front of Itachi and me.

I scanned her up and down for a moment before commenting. "You seem to be in good health."

She nodded. "It's all thanks to Lady Tsunade's treatments but of course I would have never had the opportunity if not for you."

With a light smile and a nod in her direction, I faced both her and Itachi. "We'll be working as a team so we'll need to know each other. Rin, Itachi. Itachi, Rin."

The brown haired girl smiled at Itachi before slightly bowing. "Nice to meet you Itachi. I look forward to working with you."

"…Likewise." He quietly replied with a bow.

"Next up, here is the mission detail." I said, giving them the scroll to look at. Rin opened it and Itachi stood next to her as he observed from behind. "Our first mission is to confirm if Sasori of the Red Sand has what we are looking for. If not, we won't engage and we'll go on our way, hopefully avoiding detection. If he does have what we want, however, we'll have to engage and retrieve it."

"…The Third Kazekage's corpse." Itachi said before looking towards me. "Is this about that projection?"

"Among other things." I said. "We'll be heading out to the ruins of the Kingdom of Rōran. Any questions?"

Itachi said nothing while Rin simply rolled the scroll back up and handed it to me.

Seeing this, I nodded. "Alright then, but before that…" I looked to Rin and grabbed her hand. "Lady Tsunade says you're ready so what design do you want."

She blinked for a moment before she smiled in remembrance, "A turtle."

I didn't bat an eye at the odd request as there had been some _really_ weird ones in the past. With that, numerous lines of Fuuinjutsu script covered her body from our point of contact. In but a moment, the script began to coalesce onto the back of her hand before a realistic green turtle was displayed on it.

Rin raised her hand to the sky and marveled at it before suddenly hugging me. "Thank you! Iso-kun says he loves it!"

"No worries." Was my reply after which she separated from me.

I ignored Itachi's questioning look at he looked between Rin and I (was he smirking?) before I placed a hand on both of their shoulders. Unbeknownst to both of them (or perhaps they both knew, but it didn't matter anyway), I formed a Fuuinjutsu seal on both of their bodies. With that complete, I looked to them before saying, "Let's move."

We were right next to the gate so after showing our mission statement, we were quickly let through.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

I stood in the front and center of our triangular formation as we traversed through the forested terrain that made up most of The Land of Fire. You know, I always found it ironic that the land of Fire was surrounded by trees.

The Land of Earth was well…I guess surrounded by dirt.

The Land if Wind was a desert and _very_ windy.

The Land of Lightning was up in the clouds (pretty literally) so it made sense.

And the Land of Water was quite aptly surrounded by water.

The Land of Fire, however, only had trees. Not even an active volcano was around here.

Did no one else ever find that strange?

"We should be arriving close to Amegakure soon." I said out loud.

I didn't need to look back as I felt their agreement at my statement.

From what I knew, The Village Hidden in the Rain was in the middle of a civil war of sorts and so it was important that we moved around the outskirts of Hidden Rain. The only reason we were going through this area was due to the fact that Rain acted as a buffer between Sand and Konoha and was the quickest way to our destination.

It was inevitable, however, that we would have to pass through some of the smaller villages that were located around the Hidden Rain's territory so as we approached one such village, I began to slow down, my teammates following suit.

"We'll make a quick pit stop here before we move on." I explained. We weren't really tired but since we were here, I figured we could take a little moment to pause before continuing on with our mission.

We landed on the ground and walked out of the forest before beginning to make our way towards the gate of the village.

It was then that I furrowed my brows. " _Odd…the security is lax."_

Even if this village wasn't a part of the Hidden Rain's civil war, I expected that it would at the very least increase its security especially due to its proximity to Rain.

" _Well, it's not my problem."_ I thought as I entered the village.

My teammates and I walked along the paved dirt road of this small town while I looked to and observed the people here. " _There's little to no tension…"_ I observed.

Another thing I noted was that some of the individual n the area were staring at us with whispers. I couldn't say it was hostile, but it certainly wasn't friendly. I closed my eyes and focused on my ears in order to hear what they were talking about.

" _-Shinobi from the Leaf."_

" _What are they doing here?"_

" _-projection in the sky…"_

" _Hmph, as long as god is in Hidden Rain what can Konoha do…"_

" _-Angel of God."_

I stopped concentrating and furrowed my brows, especially at the last two statements. " _God? I haven't heard anything about that in the Hidden Rain, but then again they are quite isolated…"_

As I noticed the visions of the people around us getting less hospitable, I looked to both Itachi and Rin and grabbed their forehead protectors before taking them away. "Itachi."

No more needed to be said as his eyes transformed into his clan's signature bloodline limit. Soon after, the individuals surrounding us suddenly started to ignore us as if we weren't there.

I nodded. "Let's quickly depart, it seems like our presence isn't welcome."

There was no disagreement as we quickly exited to the other end of the village and continued on with our travels.

"Um…Yoru?" I heard Rin ask behind me.

I slightly turned my head to her, "What's wrong?"

"My headband…" she commented with a smile as she scratched her cheek.

"Right…" I said as I took them both out and handed them back to their respective owners

Rin took hers with thanks before stating, "You know, I have never seen you with your shinobi headband on."

Itachi slightly perked up as well so I answered, "It reflects the light making whoever wears one a shining beacon that screams 'kill me please'. At night it's not so bad but I still don't bother wearing it."

Rin and Itachi paused and looked at each other before slowly putting their headbands away.

With that, there were no more distractions as we quickly traversed through the forest before the environment began to change. The trees became more sparse as the soil became less fertile and more grainy as we began to approach Wind Country's borders.

Before long, we found ourselves surrounded by Sand signifying that we had arrived at Wind Country.

I looked to the sky, noting the position of the sun in relation to us before I mentally conjured the map of the area. "…As long as we continue moving southwest, we should make it soon."

Itachi and Rin nodded in agreement so we continued our movements. In but a few moments later, we finally arrived at our destination. In front of us a magnificent city of towers surrounded by a metal wall.

The architecture of the area was exquisite with the tall metal towers gleaming in the afternoon sun. Some of the buildings were tilted or had fallen down due to the aftereffects of the war yet the city retained its charm.

"So this is that place…" Rin said as she idly took in the architecture. "Kakashi told me he went on a mission around here with sensei."

I walked forward into the city gates, signaling the others to follow. "Nothing of note really happened at that time."

"…Wasn't someone trying to take over the World?" Itachi asked skeptically.

"…You get those kinds of people from time to time." I replied. "As a matter of fact, the elemental nations are currently dealing with one such individual at this moment. Like every other idiotic megalomaniac, he'll die as well."

Suddenly, I stopped and held out my hand.

I listened.

"Do you two hear that?"

Itachi and Rin stood on guard as they focused on their surroundings and began to look every which way.

"I can't-" Rin began before she immediately paused.

I narrowed my eyes, "Jump."

Without a moment's hesitation, Itachi Rin and I leaped up to the top of the closest tower just as the ground beneath burst open, three large bodies puppets spilling out from the gap. They were humanoid shaped puppets that seemed to be modeled after Dogū.

Before I could contemplate further, the puppets suddenly launched towards, jet boosters propelling their flight.

I sharpened my gaze, "move!"

No more needed to be said as we all jumped to other buildings just before the puppets released powerful chakra lasers from their mouth. The building we had previously occupied was easily vaporized, the ashes and debris falling downwards due to gravity.

The three puppets then turned, each one facing one of us before they attacked.

I focused on my enemy as it charged at me before it suddenly launched kunai from its hips. I took out my own and easily deflected them before hoping back a few paces as I found that they were following me.

I took a deep breath.

 **Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame**

White flames of immense heat poured out of my mouth and engulfed the projectiles as they fired off towards the puppet.

An explosion sounded out on the battlefield

The puppet I had been facing was charred black as it tumbled in the air before crashing to the ground. No sooner did a couple more explosions sound out through the battlefield before I saw Itachi and Rin standing on different buildings.

We looked at each other before nodding.

"I suppose those were flawed pieces of art."

I widened my eyes at the sudden voice before hopping back a few steps and jumping up to the building Rin was on. I focused my senses and felt a powerful chakra signature thinly linked to certain objects that were all around us.

"There's no point in running." The voice said, closer this time. "Once I'm done unearthing the masterpieces located here, I'll turn you all into immortal pieces of art!"

Before I could find the source of the chakra, the ground began to tumble and shake before hundreds of puppets emerged from below. The streets were densely packed with the metal automatons, half of which took up to the air.

"This looks problematic." Rin states wryly.

I shook my head. "We simply have to even the odds."

 **Shadow Clone Jutsu**

I divided my chakra into 210 parts and gave rise to 210 clones of myself, each with only around 3000 units of chakra.

But it was enough.

My clones jumped down from their higher vantage point while simultaneously forming a swirling ball of blue chakra on their palms. The **Rasengan** only cost as much as a **B-ranked** technique despite its power being **S-ranked** , however, if I had divided my clones any further, they would not have been able to use it.

As these thoughts filtered through my mind, my clones attacked.

 **Rasengan Barrage**

The ground below lit up with a magnificent blue glow as each of my clones' **Rasengan** made contact with the enemy puppets. The shockwave from the attacks quickly dispelled them and caused powerful winds to surge in all areas.

Itachi and Rin partially covered their eyes from the gale force winds while I kept mine peeled in search.

After the wind died down, Itachi asked, "…Was it even necessary for us to come?"

I nodded. "I'm out of chakra with that stunt. I'll be out of commission for just a moment." With that, I sat down and activated **Meditation**. To be honest, I wasn't _completely_ out of chakra, but I wanted to see what they could do.

"Truly magnificent! Your body can contain so much chakra! I must make you part of my collection." It was at this time that the owner of the voice made himself known. He appeared on the opposite end of the street among the puppet wreckage.

He was a man with wide greyish brown eyes and short, mousy red hair. He wore the Suna flak jacket with a sleeveless undershirt, bandages around both arms, brown pants with an attached holster, and brown shinobi sandals.

"The **Puppet Ninja Force** created by Mukade were exquisite masterpieces of art." Sasori began as he spread his fingers, thin chakra strings attaching to the scattered remains of the puppets. "It's a pity he couldn't appreciate them and ended up dying. Thankfully, he left more than enough spare parts for me to use."

He stopped and smiled before moving his hands and twitching his fingers. Immediately after, the puppet pieces flew together and began to pile and merge with one another.

"I'll leave the next few seconds to you." I told them before taking out two kunai and stabbing one on either side of me.

Itachi nodded.

Rin smiled. "Let's show him Itachi."

Itachi looked to her and smiled in kind before activating his Sharingan.

With that, they took off.

Two handseals was all it took before Itachi puffed his chest with air and exhaled a ball of fire at the scrap puppet pieces. An explosion of fire followed by a wave of heat resulted from his attack connecting.

Rin followed behind as she dashed across the roofs of the buildings before she jumped up. Her handseals rapidly formed before she puffed her cheeks and spit out a giant blob of water in the air. It paused as it reached its apex before lances of water shot out from it towards the smokescreen caused by Itachi's attack.

The earth trembled and dust picked up as Itachi and Rin leaped back and watched in seriousness as the dust from their attacks began to clear.

"An Uchiha?" A voice said from within the smoke as it dissipated. "I suppose I could add you as well."

The smoke finally dissipated showcasing a massive unharmed centipede-like puppet body. "In the past Mukade used this city's underground chakra vein to power this beautiful puppet." Sasori stated as he stood on the head of the doll. "And that was why he was a failure as a puppeteer. He used external means to supply his abilities and was much too weak and unqualified to do it on his own."

With that said, Sasori uncrossed his hands, the chakra strings connecting them to the giant puppet causing it to move. With a roar, the puppet raised its hand and slammed the ground causing the earth to tremble as a shockwave spread outwards.

The turbulent winds caused Itachi and Rin to leap back a couple of paces before they stabilized themselves.

Sasori smiled. "Go!"

The beast roared before its mouth glowed as it gathered chakra before it shot out a beam of immense energy out of its mouth. Its head turned as it indiscriminately attacked the rest of the city along with its targets.

Rin and Itachi jumped up from the smoke.

The former looked below with a serious gaze before a cloak of red chakra in the form of a turtle with three flat tails began to cover her form. Not a moment sooner did she flip through a few handseals.

 **Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu**

With her Bijuu's aid, the moisture in the air rapidly gathered behind her and formed an immense pillar of water in the shape of a dragon. Its yellow eyes gleamed as it looked below before it roared and dashed downwards to attack.

Itachi didn't idle as he shot a powerful beam of electricity into the dragon causing it to glitter in lightning as it continued its decent.

With its large size, the puppet was forced to confront the attack head-on as it blasted a beam of concentrated chakra at the lightning covered water dragon. Unfortunately, the added chakra from Rin's Bijuu was more than enough for the water dragon to overpower it.

With an explosion of energy, it came crashing down on the puppet causing cracks to spread outward.

The puppet below lay damaged from the attack and it groaned as it struggled to stand.

But it didn't end.

With gravity doing its job, Rin began to descend towards the puppet. She cocked her hand back and right as she lashed out, I felt her gather a sufficient amount of chakra on her fist.

With a short shout, her fist hit the puppet squarely on the head, caving it in. The impact caused a shockwave to spread through the surroundings and the ground to cave in. Cracks spread all around as the earth collapsed in on itself with the nearby buildings breaking down from their destabilized structure.

I raised a brow as the dust and debris from the impact expanded. " _What exactly did Tsunade teach that girl?"_

"It seems like my affinity for this work of art isn't high." Sasori said in slight disappointment. "However…" he looked to Rin with a grin. "A Jinchuuriki as well! You three will more than makeup for my losses!"

A terribly foreboding feeling welled up from within me.

Without warning, Spears of iron sand shot out from the ground beneath Itachi, Rin, and me.

Time slowed down in my perception as I threw the two kunai beside me in the air before I leaped back.

I could see the iron spears inching closer to Itachi and Rin.

I could smell the dangerous poison-laced on the projectiles.

I could tell that Itachi and Rin would have a hard time dodging these attacks.

Despite this, I remained calm.

 **Amenotokotachi (Heaven)**

In a flash, the two Kunai I had thrown were replaced with Itachi and Rin respectively. Soon after, the kunai were shredded to shrapnel from the iron sand attack.

Itachi and Rin quickly gained their bearings and flipped back before softly landing on the ground to my either side.

Rin breathed heavily before looking at me in wonder. "What was that?"

"A project I've been working on for a while." I replied simply. A few years back when I had memorized Minato's **Flying Thunder God Technique** notes, I had already begun to formalize something similar of my own. It came with its advantages and disadvantages, but those could be explained at a later date.

"…We have company." Itachi stated.

No sooner did an iron spike shoot out from below us which we hurriedly dodged by jumping back. The attack didn't end and more spikes emerged and traveled towards us.

We leaped backward from rooftop to rooftop, each building soon being devastated by the iron spikes. We gained significant distance and I took the time to observe the landscape noting how it had drastically changed with iron spikes jutting out everywhere.

"Don't let those touch you." I said. "They're laced."

Their bodies straightened in seriousness before laughter sounded out.

In the sky on a cloud of iron sand, Sasori sat with his arms in the air as he controlled a puppet with short black hair reaching its shoulders, yellow eyes, and a gray overcoat. "This is my most prized work of art. The effort that it took to capture him was so well worth it."

Rin's eyes widened, "Is that…?"

"The Third Kazekage." Itachi finished as his sharingan eyes narrowed.

I nodded, "It looks like the information was correct. Sasori of the Red Sand killed his own Kage and turned him into a puppet." I stood up and cracked the joints in my fingers. "Now we have no choice but to engage."

My eyes glowed as I activated **Deconstructive Analysis** while I simultaneously activated **Accelerated Analysis** and also used my other mind from **Parallel Processes**.

My perception of time slowed to a crawl.

I pulled out a kunai attached to a string and placed my **Amenotokotachi** mark on it. Lightning coursed through my hand and fell onto the blade before I threw it.

 _Hard._

The sound was deafening as the blade traveled through the air towards Sasori at speeds that easily caused it to catch fire from the friction.

Despite this, in my gaze, the knife moved slowly.

I could see Sasori's serious visage as he controlled his puppet releasing a wave of chakra that adhered to the iron spikes. They moved to intercept my kunai, however, their movements were captured in my eyes.

The velocity of the knife, the wind resistance of the air, tension of the string, and the angles of the iron spikes were all calculated rapidly by my second brain. Every twitch I made to my fingers was calculated to give my kunai the most optimal flight path towards its destination as I caused it to weave through the jutting iron spears.

Sasori widened his eyes as he hurriedly formed an iron barrier, however, my lighting shot through it like a beam, melting the edges of the hole it made.

Still, with his incredible experience, Sasori was able to tilt his head just enough for my Kunai to just barely graze his cheek.

A **Rasengan** formed on my hand

 **Amenotokotachi**

Spacetime distorted as I vanished from my initial position and appeared right behind Sasori, my kunai changing positions with me.

The spiraling ball of energy on my palms slowly inched its way towards Sasori.

And then, I felt it.

An immense sense of danger blared within my mind.

The Third Kazekage puppet suddenly shot out a black iron knife from a hidden compartment within it. I could easily see it coming, however, if I chose to dodge now, I wouldn't get this chance again.

So, I didn't.

The blade pierced my back and exited through my chest.

Despite that, I drilled the **Rasengan** into Sasori's back, knocking him off the iron sand cloud. His momentary incapacitation caused the iron sand below my feet to dissipate and gravity to take over.

At the same moment, the kunai I had switched myself with had kept its momentum and once more travel in this direction before passing over us and flying over head.

I sighed and thought to myself as I fell to the ground below. " _Just as I was showing off my new technique, I get stabbed through the heart because of it…"_

At that moment, I felt for another **Amenotokotachi** connection and tried to move there.

And then I realized.

I couldn't control my chakra.

 **You've been afflicted by a powerful poison!**

 **Decreases HP by 500 per second**

 **Decreases CC by 100%**

 **Due to Toxin resistance, HP is decreased by 50 per second**

 **Due to Toxin resistance, CC is decreased by 10%**

It was the sudden feeling of not having _perfect_ control of my chakra that threw me off. It was like suddenly losing your limb out of nowhere and trying to walk without realizing you had lost it. It was because of this feeling that at _that_ instant...

I was unable to use my chakra.

I looked to the sky, "Why have you forsaken me?"

An iron spike on the ground rammed through my stomach, the sickening sound of flesh tearing resulting from the impact. I coughed up a glob of blood, but that was inconsequential compared to the immense pain my body felt.

"To think you hadn't instantly died from that attack and the poison." Sasori stated as he grinned despite the blood pouring from his back. "You're a little roughed up but I can fix you up nicely."

My vision somewhat blurred as the poison worked its way through my body.

 **Congratulations! [Toxin Resistance] has leveled up by 1!**

" _Fantastic."_ I thought blandly as I gazed at him before turning my head to Itachi and Rin.

They were frozen.

I could make out Rin's horrified expression while Itachi's eyes were widened.

" _Yeah…I probably don't look to be in good shape right around now…"_

I would tell them to take this opportunity to attack, however, that would clearly alert the enemy and make it obsolete. Plus they looked shocked and probably wouldn't register my words anyway…

Then there was the fact that my lung was punctured through so doing anything that required air would be quite difficult for a few more moments…

" _Looks like I'll have to continue myself."_

Even in my condition, I was still fine and my regeneration would be able to keep the poison at bay in addition to my **Toxin Resistance**.

"Before you're reborn as an immortal masterpiece." Sasori began as he shakily stood up, eyeing me with a crazed smile. "You first have to die!" He spread his arms with a smile and controlled his puppet to move.

At the same moment, I was about to pull the iron spike out of my gut.

And then, we both stopped.

Chakra signatures spiked to immense levels.

A beast roared which shook the skies.

Sasori paused his attack with wide eyes and looked to the source only to see an orange ethereal armored warrior surrounding Itachi. Next to him stood…

"The Three-Tails…" Sasori whispered before taking a step back. He looked back at Itachi, "What the hell is that?!"

There was no one to answer him as the ethereal warrior lifted up his sword.

The Three-Tails began to gather an extremely dense amount of chakra within its mouth.

My eyes lingered on the two behemoths radiating immense amounts of energy…

I blinked.

" _Yeah…they got this."_

I then focused on Sasori's tense look and thought about attacking him, but I gave up that thought soon after. The amount of chakra Rin and Itachi were gathering was quite large and I would definitely get caught in the crossfire if I decided to interfere.

I decided that the next best thing for me to do then would be to simply vanish to a different spot.

Why?

Well for one, I didn't want Sasori to take me hostage and use me against Itachi and Rin.

Plus, I was interested in what type of abilities they had…

With that thought, I found a kunai marker for my **Amenotokotachi** technique nearby and immediately flashed there before looking down below at the battle that would soon commence.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

 _ **[3rd Person POV]**_

Neither Itachi nor Rin really knew what happened.

One moment their partner and friend was next to them.

The next moment he was gone, the kunai he had thrown earlier replacing his position.

The fact that the Kunai still flew forward did not even register in their minds as they watched Yoru get stabbed through the stomach.

Despite this he carried out his duty and landed his attack on the enemy, causing him severe damage.

That should have been it.

They didn't know what happened.

Yoru should have been able to use his ability to teleport back, but he didn't.

The floating Iron cloud lost its cohesiveness as soon as Sasori lost control and caused Yoru to tumble down.

They wanted to yell at him to move, however, they could only stand frozen in shock as he became impaled through the chest from a stray Iron shard on the ground.

Itachi couldn't breathe.

The scene of a past mission played within his mind.

The death of one of his friends at the hands of that Masked Man.

The despair he felt when his mission objectives had been slaughtered in front of him reappeared.

He hadn't been able to do a single thing.

Why had he been left to live?

Why had his friends died?

Why hadn't he been able to protect them?

The situation replayed in his mind, his friend's body overlapping with Yoru's corpse.

The powerlessness he felt…

The pain he felt…

Itachi didn't know what made him say it or where it had come from, but from the depths of his mind, a name appeared.

Instinctively, he knew what to do.

And he spoke: " **Susanoo"**

A large orange skeletal projection of chakra appeared around his frame.

Muscle wrapped around its bones.

Skin wrapped around its muscles.

Armour wrapped around it skin.

With only its upper half visible, it raised its sword.

* * *

Rin had watched Obito die in her arms.

At that point, she had been powerless to do anything.

When she had been forced to become the Three-Tailed Jinchuuriki, She had tried to kill herself in order to protect her village.

She had caused her own friend to impale her through the heart.

She had expected to die.

Who wouldn't?

She never expected to survive and see her friends and family again.

Her sensei and his wife.

Their beautiful daughter Mito.

Her friends at the Academy.

Kakashi…

She would have never been able to see them again if not for Yoru.

Moreso, she had made friends with her Bijuu, the thing she had been afraid would destroy her village.

The coma she had been in had allowed her to talk to and understand him.

It was all thanks to Yoru that she was able to continue holding onto what she loved and had even gained so much more.

And now, he was dead.

And again she had been powerless to do anything.

Just like with Obito, she could only watch.

Her mind unconsciously sank deep within herself as she appeared on a beautiful sunlit beach.

Tears streamed down her face as she gazed at the gigantic Turtle like creature. "Iso-kun…"

Isobu shuffled unceasingly with giant beads of sweat (or water?) streaming down his head. " **P-please d-don't cry Rin!"**

The Turtle knew what was going on outside and while he didn't really care about the boy who was presumably dead, he really didn't want to see Rin cry.

The girl in question looked at him teary-eyed and ran to hug his large fingers.

Seeing Rin shudder in sadness, Isobu narrowed his one opened eye in anger. " **Rin…"** he said causing the girl to look up at him. " **There's no need to cry, I'll help you."**

She sniffled and held back her tears before looking up at him with a firm gaze and nodding.

Isobu's expression relaxed.

Rin hugged his finger.

Their minds synchronized.

* * *

The Orange Susanoo lowered its raised sword causing the earth beneath to split as an energy wave shot out towards its target.

Sasori hurriedly took to the skies on a cloud of iron sand and looked below. He gulped and looked to the distance to see that the ethereal monster's weapon had split the city of Rōran in 2.

Instincts honed from years of shinobi training was the only thing that had allowed him to react at the Tailed Beast Bomb that suddenly followed.

He quickly used his chakra to form giant walls of Iron sand while simultaneously moving out of the way. His chakra drained extensively at the ordeal, however, he was able to barely dodge the powerful beam of energy.

The beam blasted through the iron barriers he had put up, slowing it down long enough for Sasori to move away. The attack exploded in the distance, completely leveling the mountain that had previously been erect there.

Sweat crippled down his forehead. " _What are they?"_ He thought while looking for an escape route, " _Screw turning them into art. I need to live if in order to even do that. All I wanted to do was to get a few puppet pieces for my collection…"_ He looked below… " _Wait where the hell did he go?"_

Wait...Didn't that kid have an iron spike impaled through his body just a second ago?

How could he have moved away?

Well, there went his plan of using a hostage.

He couldn't contemplate any further as the Bijuu suddenly slammed its hands on the ground.

It took only a moment for Sasori to realize that large pieces of coral pierced through the earth from underneath and destroyed his spikes of iron sand.

" _Dammit!"_ Sasori thought as he took off to the air. " _Arial escape it is, though I won't be able to do this for long."_ The amount of chakra it took to manipulate the Third Kazekage's Iron sand was immense mainly due to the fact that he wasn't the Third Kazekage and **Magnet Release** wasn't _his_ Kekkei Genkai. As a result, Sasori had a difficult time using the iron sand to its pinnacle.

Before his plan could be completely put into motion, however, Itachi's **Susanoo** moved.

Between its hands, it formed three magatamas bound together by a single, circular thread of energy. It's shape allowed it to function as shuriken which Itachi took advantage of as he immediately launched his most powerful long-ranged attack.

 **Yasaka Magatama!**

Sasori couldn't dodge.

His control of the Third Kazekage's kekkei had become poor as he was running out of chakra. That wasn't even mentioning the fact that he was already quite heavily injured from the white-haired shinobi's last attack.

He grit his teeth as pushed as much chakra as he could to form thick gigantic walls of Iron sand. They barely proved useful as the **Yasaka Magatama** sliced through each wall one by one before arriving in front of Sasori.

There was little time.

Sasori reached into his holster where he held his puppet summoning scroll and quickly took it out before summoning his army of personal puppets.

An explosion shook the battlefield.

Sasori's form was launched out of the smoking cloud of debris before he roughly slammed against a wall of one of the buildings and fell down.

His most prized Third Kazekage puppet clattered beside him relatively unharmed.

He chucked ruefully. " _This is how the tale of Sasori of The Red Sand ends."_ He knew how bad his condition was right now. His back was torn open from the attack Yoru had inflicted on him earlier, he was out of chakra, and he had not come out of that last attack unscathed.

A pool of glistening crimson blood pooled out beneath him causing Sasori to smile. " _In the end, I died before I could turn myself into a beautiful everlasting work of art, however…"_ He stared at his reflection in his pure red blood as it reflected the sunlight. " _Dying this way is actually quite beautiful as well."_

* * *

The battlefield was silent.

Itachi could not hold the **Susanoo** armor for long due to his small chakra reserves and had only been able to do those two attack before wearing out. The ethereal armor dissipated and Itachi began to sway as exhaustion overwhelmed him.

Right as he was falling, a pair of lithe arms wrapped around him and held him up straight. His vision unfocused, he turned to see Rin looking at him with a sad smile.

His expression became despondent. "…Let's complete our mission."

Rin nodded, "Knowing him, I'm sure that's what he would want."

They walked on in silence as they approached the area where Sasori had fallen.

As shinobi, they knew they couldn't really hate him. In all truth, they had technically trespassed into foreign territory. Forgetting the fact that Sasori had pretty much defected with his murder of the Third Kazekage, he still had any and all right to defend himself against intruders to his home soil.

Not to mention, it wasn't like they had come here with the intention of peacefully talking him out of releasing the Third Kazekage's corpse.

"I'll do it." Rin said as she approached the Third Kazekage puppet before taking out a storage seal. With a little application of chakra, a beautifully decorated and elaborate coffin.

Rin's expression soured, "Such a beautiful thing for a puppet yet…" She shook her head and carefully placed the Third Kazekage's puppet body into the coffin and resealed it in the scroll.

Next, she looked at Sasori. Rin was a kind-hearted individual and while she definitely didn't like Sasori by any stretch of the imagination, she felt it was wrong to simply leave him bleeding here. While he had betrayed Sand, they were still Konoha's allies and so Rin felt it would be best to have them deal with him.

She took out another storage scroll that was on her person and placed his corpse within.

She looked to Itachi who nodded in agreement.

With that, they made their way over to the area in which Yoru had "died"…

Then they noticed an oddity.

"…Where did his body go?" Itachi asked

"…"

Rin had no idea what to say.

Itachi activated his sharingan despite his protesting eyes and looked around.

Then he stopped.

He sighed and sat down on the ground before speaking out loud. "…Yoru, please come down."

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

 _ **[Yoru POV]**_

I looked down below where Itachi was sitting on the ground while Rin was looking up every which way for my shadow.

" _I suppose I should…"_ I thought as I heard Itachi. I promptly jumped off the building I was on before landing in front of the duo "Yo."

Itachi remained silent.

Rin was looking at me with an upset gaze.

I idly scratched the back of my head. "Good job team…"

"…"

"…"

Rin almost looked to be on the verge of tears.

I looked at her and patted her head somewhat awkwardly, "Aren't you such a kind soul? Preserving the body of your enemy like that…"

She looked downwards before her body trembled, "I...I thought you died...I was so upset."

"Rin." I said making her look at me. "I'm not so easy to kill. As you can see, I'm still alive."

She froze before immediately hugging me. "Please don't worry me like that again...I don't want to lose anyone else anymore…"

I Idly patted her head since I wasn't necessarily the best with comforting people…

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Itachi give me a subtle thumbs up.

I internally rolled my eyes. "Thank you for worrying about me." I said as Rin leaned away from me and wiped a tear. "May I take a look?"

Rin blinked before understanding and nodding her head. She took out a scroll and spread it out before a coffin appeared which she promptly opened.

I looked into it. "All this trouble for what is now essentially a pile of wood." I shook my head and looked at the Third Kazekage puppet before I internally smiled.

I immediately snatched up a strand of his hair and put it in my inventory before looking at Rin and Itachi, "We're all set."

They nodded

" _Now then, time to inform Minato."_

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

 _ **[3rd Person POV Suna/Konoha meeting point]**_

The tension in the atmosphere was so thick that it almost felt like you could touch it.

The Fourth Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage stood on opposite ends of the canyon that separated their two forces.

On Suna's end, there were many powerful chakra cannons that were lined up while the Kazekage floated on his Gold dust cloud in front of his forces.

On Konoha's end, the Hokage stood tall as the wind caused his cloak to wave in the air. As a show of goodwill, they didn't have weapons pointed, however, that didn't mean Minato was foolish enough to come here without a contingency plan.

He just hoped he wouldn't have to use it.

"Minato Namikaze." Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, spoke with his arms crossed as he floated on his golden dust cloud. "At this stage, there is little else that could be said between us. With the situation as is, you can't blame me for being afraid of Suna's best interests."

"Don't be so hasty." Minato said calmly. "The situation is in and of itself a misunderstanding, but I know that won't appease you so I've scheduled for something to be brought back to you."

Rasa frowned, "There's very little that would move me at this time Yondaime."

"I wouldn't be too sure if I were you." Minato stated with a smile, "Give if a little time."

Rasa remained silent, tacitly in agreement.

Time passed by.

The tension on both ends began to make the soldiers slightly restless in discomfort.

More time passed.

Someone sneezed.

Everyone whipped their heads at the individual in question causing the poor Suna nin to sweat in discomfort. "I-It's just a little sandy out here and I'm allergic to dust…"

Everyone's faces turned black.

" _How are you allergic to dust when you live in the middle of a desert?"_

Everyone thought it.

Neither said it.

They had to remain professional after all.

The tension eased somewhat and the time continued to pass.

Rasa sighed. "With all due respect Yondaime, I'm usually a patient individual but if we're going to have to wait any longer…"

Minato opened his mouth to reply.

Then he stopped.

And smiled. "That won't be the case."

Before Rasa could refute, a flash appeared on Konoha's end causing both sides to tense but before anything happened, the flash revealed itself to be another Minato in addition to three young individuals. The clone Minato nodded and poofed into a cloud of smoke.

Rasa looked on carefully, "They are…?"

Minato merely smiled and looked at him, "Here to deliver something to Suna."

 _ **[Yoru POV]**_

" _So that's the Fourth Kazekage…"_ I thought as I looked at the individual on the opposite end of the canyon who was floating on a cloud of gold dust.

I wondered how much that cost…

"Yoru." Minato stated, looking at me.

I nodded and looked to Rin who took out a paper storage seal and ran chakra through it. It _poofed_ before dropping an elaborately decorated coffin on the ground.

Minato spoke, "Not too long ago our sources managed to track down some information about your Third Kazekage."

Rasa's eyes widened.

Minato continued. "I know how much Suna has been looking for any information about him. Unfortunately, we found out that he had already been killed. Despite this, we figured that you would at the very least want to have some respite."

Rasa floated down towards the coffin at the opposite end of the canyon.

I decided to say something for everyone's benefit, "His corpse wasn't really in the most ideal situation."

Rasa narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean?"

Rin stepped forward and placed a storage scroll on top of the coffin. "We had to fight Sasori of the Red Sand who had turned the Third Kazekage's corpse into a puppet. His body is sealed within."

I could sense surprise emanating from the individuals around us. Whether it was from the fact that Sasori had killed the Kazekage, we had killed Sasori, or both, I was not sure.

"Did you just say that my grandson is dead?" An elderly female voice sounded out. The crowd of Suna-nin split giving way to an elderly woman. She looked at Itachi, Rin and I carefully, as if trying to remember our faces, before speaking, "I want to see his body."

Rasa nodded before the coffin began to levitate. "A gold-rimmed coffin?" He asked as he looked at Minato.

"Part of our sincerity." Was his reply.

In my opinion, I was pretty sure they only did that because Rasa used gold dust and could levitate the coffin away. If he had been able to use a different element, I was pretty certain we wouldn't have wasted money on a gold-rimmed coffin.

After the coffin arrived in Suna's end, the lid was opened, allowing every individual there to see.

"It's true…" one Sand shinobi stated. "It's really the body of the Third…"

Chiyo frowned, "How can this even be considered a body anymore? It's been defiled nearly beyond recognition." She shook her head before taking the scroll from the coffin lid and splaying it on the ground.

With a cloud of smoke, the body Sasori appeared on the ground, his arms crossed on his chest and his gaze peaceful.

Chiyo looked at her grandson for a while before gently stroking his hair. "At least you'll be with your mother and father again." She said. After gazing at his dead body for a while longer, she sighed before resealing his body and looking to the Fourth Kazekage with a nod.

Rasa turned to look at us before saying, "Sunagakure will remember this moment of goodwill from the Leaf. I pray that our partnerships remain secure for the foreseeable future."

"Of course." Minato said with a smile. "I'll be always glad to work with our friends from the Sand."

Ping!

* * *

 **Quest Complete!**

 **Red Iron Sand!**

 **Reward: 250,000 EXP**

 **You Have Level up by 1!**

* * *

Rasa smirked and began to fly away, leading his army with him as they moved back.

Minato sighed, "One issue averted." He looked towards us with a smile, "I knew you all could do it. Thank you."

"That was no issue." I replied.

Minato smiled for a moment before his expression became serious again. "Unfortunately, we still have another prevalent matter to attend to." Minato looked to the sky before sighing, "Hiruko's ritual requires the energy produced by the sun during the solar eclipse, but we still don't know what his Fifth Kekkei Genkai will be…"

"There's not much use thinking about it." Jiraiya's voice sounded out as he appeared beside Minato and placed a hand on his shoulder. "In any event, the only opportunity he'll have is tomorrow when the solar eclipse appears. Till then we only need to keep our eyes peeled around Mt. Shumisen."

Minato sighed in exhaustion and nodded before looking at us, "Well, let's get you all home."

He created a clone and had it attend to us as we formed a point of contact with it before the scenery suddenly changed.

"Thanks again you all." Minato's clone said with a smile. "I'll make sure you all are compensated." And with that, he disappeared in a _puff_.

We found ourselves in the middle of the village and with nothing to do, I pointed to the ramen shop that was right beside us. "Why don't we all get something to eat? It's been quite a day and it'll all be on me."

"Why not?"

"…I suppose so."

Was their reply.

I walked over and opened the flap of the store before calling out to the store owner. "Teuchi, 3 bowls of the usual."

"Hmm?" A voice sounded out from the back of the store. Teuchi walked out with a towel in hand as he looked at us before smiling. "Ah, it's Yoru! And you even brought your friends. You know, I was beginning to worry you didn't have any…"

Rin chuckled.

Itachi looked mildly amused.

"…Just bring the food." I said before sitting down on the stool in front of the counter.

"No problem!" He said with a chuckle before moving to the back of the room.

Rin sat on my left.

Itachi on my right.

We remained in relative silence, the sound of shuffling footsteps and conversation from the outside the store wholly prevalent…

"How are you still alive?" Rin asked, breaking the quiet atmosphere.

"It almost sounds you want me dead…"

"You know what I mean. I saw you get stabbed through-"

"Some refreshments!" Teuchi said as he placed three glasses of water in front of us before going back to his cooking.

I took a sip of water and looked at my reflection in the water. "The simplest answer would be my 'Bloodline Limit' kept me alive."

Both Rin and Itachi looked at me in surprise.

"…Bloodline?" Itachi asked. "What kind of Bloodline would allow you to survive getting stabbed through the heart…"

"How to explain this…" I thought while swirling my cup. "Imagine my body can take a certain amount of damage before I die. What matters isn't really _where_ the damage occurs but _how much_ damage occurs. Stabbing me through the stomach and stabbing me through the leg would cause the same amount of damage to my body even though for normal individuals, a stab through the gut would be much more fatal. Of course, it's slightly more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it."

"That's…" Rin began in surprise.

Itachi looked at me. "So you don't have any weak points?"

"Not necessarily." I said before downing the cup of water and placing it down on the counter. "If you crush my heart, I'll take much more damage. Furthermore, I'm not sure if I can survive without my head and I truly don't want to find out. Aside from those obvious weaknesses, the only way to kill me would be hit me enough that my body's natural regeneration is unable to heal me in time. Ohh yeah, I also have a healing factor."

Rin frowned. "Is that why you let yourself get stabbed? Then why didn't you simply use that technique you used on Itachi and me earlier when you were falling?"

"Ahh, that." I said ruefully. "Sasori had poisoned the iron and the poison had prevented me from using my chakra effectively at that moment."

Rin's eyes widened, "Wait, poison?! Are you alright?"

"I'll be alright, though I still can't use my chakra 100%."

"How is that 'alright'?" She said, looking at me seriously. "We should get you checked out before it leaves permanent lasting effects."

I shook my head, "My body can heal itself of all negative status conditions as long as I get some sleep. Ahh, I guess that's another facet to my 'bloodline'".

"…"

"…"

We lapsed into another round of silence.

"Three bowls of beef ramen!" Teuchi said with a grin as he placed the bowls in front of us. "Please take your time and enjoy!"

"Thank you." We said.

Teuchi nodded before attending to another customer.

I split the chopsticks apart and gave a mental ' _Thank you for the meal'_ before taking in a strand of noodles. Even though I didn't need to, I blew on it a little bit before eating a few strands.

" _Takoyaki is still better though…"_

"Enough about me." I said looking at Itachi. "What exactly was that _thing_ you pulled? Don't tell me it's actually part of your bloodline…"

I could recall the chakra mutation that had occurred in Itachi before he pulled out that Orange armored avatar. Most importantly, however, was the fact that I had felt a very similar fluctuation in chakra before.

In Kakashi.

"…I believe so." He said quietly.

I watched his contemplative expression and saw that he didn't really want to say anymore.

I patted his head, "If you can't say it then that's fine. It'll be something between us three."

Itachi calmly removed my hand from his head.

I smirked before my expression turned serious. "Speaking of…" I said, looking at Rin, "You showed off your Bijuu-"

She frowned.

"-Fine _Iso-kun_ …"

She smiled.

"…During our mission."

Rin stayed silent for a moment, "I-"

I patted her head, "Don't worry about it but you should be more careful. The other villages don't know who is in possession of the Three-Tails and we want to keep it that way." We all spoke quietly enough that only we could hear each other.

She nodded but put then sulked. "Why are you comforting me like I'm a kid? I'm older than you…"

I removed my hand before looking back at my noodle bowl and grabbing my chopsticks. "Whatever happened during that mission involves secrets that we either rather not talk about-" I looked at Itachi. "-Or ones that we should not talk about." I looked at Rin. "We will keep these to ourselves."

Itachi nodded and looked at Rin, "…No one will hear anything from me."

"Likewise." She replied with a smile.

I downed my bowl of Ramen before placing it on the counter and wiping my mouth. "Then we are in agreement. Teuchi!"

"Yes, Yes!" The man said as he came over to us.

I pulled out a stack of money and placed it on the counter. "Thanks for the meal."

Everyone looked at the money wide-eyed.

"T-That's a little much Yoru…" Teuchi said with a strained smile.

I observed him carefully before nodding. "You're an honest guy and the meals were delicious so think of the extra as a tip. Besides, I'm rich."

"I see…" he said with a sigh before taking my money. "The next meal you get will be on the house."

I opened my mouth.

"No buts!"

I closed my mouth.

Around this time, Itachi and Rin had finished off their meals.

"Thank you for the meal Mr. Teuchi!" Rin said brightly as she placed the bowl down and got off the chair.

"…Likewise, the meal was delicious." Itachi said before following suit.

I stood up last. "I'll see you around Teuchi."

He chuckled, "Likewise Yoru. Stay safe and tell my favorite regular 'hi' for me!"

"Will do." I replied before walking out the shop, Rin and Itachi in tow.

The streets were still somewhat busy with people walking to and fro and shop owners pitching their sales.

"This is where we split up." I said, looking at the both of them. "Thank you for coming with me on the mission. It would have been much more troublesome otherwise."

"Of course!"

"Hn."

I couldn't help but slightly smile, "I'll see you all later."

With that, we all went our separate ways.

* * *

 **Stat Update**

 **Tier: 7-B+**

 **Age:** 10.99

 **Level:** 96 - **97**

 **HP:** 399599 **\- 403760**

 **CP:** 633076 **\- 639669**

 **STR:** 1440 **\- 1460**

 **VIT:** 1451 **\- 1460**

 **DEX:** 1445 **\- 1460**

 **INT:** 1155 **\- 1500**

 **WIS:** 1140 **\- 1200**

 **ENGY:** **1968**

 **Points: 90**

 **Skill Update**

 **Toxin Resistance:** lvl 94 **\- lvl 95**

* * *

 **Oblivious IJ:**

Yoru is 11 right now

~5 years younger than Kakashi

~5 years younger than Rin

~11 years younger than Kotoe

~13 years younger than Minato/Kushina

~27 years younger than Jiraiya

~2 years older than Itachi

~6 years older than Mito

 **(Note: [~] = a few days to a few months)**

 **Ataxius:** No…Yoru is there to protect Kushina overtly and it's not like he was watching over her _every single_ day for close to 10 months. He still has missions and other things to attend to, after all. The point of chapter 20 was to somewhat introduce the next villain, show Rin waking up, and a little bit of slice-of-life to calm everything down before the next big thing hits. Not every single chapter has to have something major going on.

 **Acherus01:** I'm glad you stuck around!


	22. Chapter 22

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like reading fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

 _ **[3rd Person POV]**_

It was the dead of night, silence permeating most households in Konoha. Kakashi slept in his bedroom, yet his mood seemed agitated as he tightened his eyes even further and shuffled on the bed as if he was struggling in his dream.

As he was deep in his REM sleep, his eyes were rapidly moving underneath his eyelids. His brain tried to decipher the signals being sent by its nerve cells as he dreamt, however, it was evident that something else was interfering with his dreams.

 _He was running through a dense bamboo forest that seemed to have no end in sight._

 _He couldn't run forever_

 _So he stopped._

 _He turned back to face his pursuer as the individual in question floated in front of him._

 _With white hair and red eyes, the childish figure covered in bandages slowly floated downwards. "It has been a long time, Kakashi Hatake."_ _As he said this, his body suddenly transformed into a more adult version of himself and he took a step closer to Kakashi._

 _Eyes wide, Kakashi took a half-step back and looked up at the individual. "You're…Hiruko!"_

 _The now adult version of Hiruko slowly approached Kakashi and placed a palm on his forehead before a smile formed on his lips._

 _The white-haired Konoha jonin hurriedly took a few steps back._

 _However, it was too late._

 _His single sharingan active, a red seal glowed on Kakashi's forehead in the appearance of an eye with another circle inside of it resembling a pupil. It had four lines stemming from the upper line of the eye and two big thick lines stemming from the side of the eye._

 _As soon as that was complete, Hiruko smiled once before slowly fading away…_

Kakashi slowly sat up from his sleeping position as the seal on his forehead glowed in an eerie crimson light before slowly fading away. Soon after, his eyes glowed red as he sat there, dazed and out of focus as the sun slowly began to rise.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

 _ **[Yoru's POV]**_

 **You have slept in your bed.**

 **HP & CP are fully stored!**

 **All Negative Status conditions have been removed!**

 **Happy Birthday!**

Hm, I was finally 11 years old. Not that it really meant anything.

That aside.

" _Ohh thankfully that actually worked…"_

I had never actually been poisoned so severely before…well, except for that time my teacher kidnapped me and convinced me to join Root…

I hadn't gotten my Toxin Resistance then though so it didn't count.

Anywho, I had been gambling that my body would fix itself after sleeping. If it didn't, I would just go to Tsunade and have her make a cure. It wasn't like I'd suffer much without my chakra anyway since my body was decently strong on its own.

In any case.

"Mouse, why are you at my house at 6:00 in the morning?"

Said individual simply gave me handseals from outside the window. " _Hokage requires your presence."_

I sighed.

I never get a break, do I?

As for why Mouse was outside, my house was layered with seals as a precaution. Only a handful of people had access to my little apartment such as Kushina, my adorable Mito, Minato, and obviously my teacher.

And maybe Itachi…

And possibly Rin…

And probably Kakashi…

Then there was also Obito who was no longer here…

I gave Mouse a hand signal, " _I'll be there in a moment."_

He nodded and vanished.

With that, I quickly washed myself off with some water collected from the air and put on my **Henge** clothes before heading out of my house.

Hopping over some houses eventually landed me in front of the Hokage's building which I promptly entered before walking up to Minato's job office.

Since he was expecting me, I didn't bother knocking on the door and simply opened it and walked in. I looked around for a moment to see Minato, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Kakashi.

"You're here." Minato stated with a smile as I entered the room.

I nodded.

"In that case, I'll explain why you're all here." The blonde Hokage continued before looking at Kakashi and sighing. "This morning, I got confirmation on what Hiruko's fifth Kekkei Genkai would be."

No one here was stupid.

From the simple look Minato had given Kakashi, it was clear that the object of desire was his Sharingan. That, however, begged the question-

"Why would he go after Kakashi? Why not target an Uchiha with an already developed sharingan?" Orochimaru asked in interest.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Kakashi subconsciously touch his left eye as Minato replied. "I can only assume that he didn't want to target someone too difficult for him. This is also under the assumption that he only needs one eyeball of the activated sharingan. Based on his actions, I'm assuming this is the case."

"This is quite problematic…" Jiraiya stated in thought. "The Uchiha won't be too happy if their eyes are taken, especially by an outsider."

"And that's why you are all here." Minato stated.

We all perked up.

The Fourth Hokage looked at Orochimaru. "I assume you've completed it by now?"

He smiled widely, "Of course." With that said, he took out a scroll and unfurled it before in a _puff_ , a glass cylinder filled with viscous green liquid appeared. "All you will need to do is have him absorb this the instant he tries to absorb you." Orochimaru explained as he looked at Kakashi. "The containment tank will burst on command and release the fluid inside. It will then destabilize his body's composition causing his cellular structures to degrade."

Kakashi's eyes widened.

Jiraiya raised a brow, "That's quite intense…and just a little gross."

Orochimaru smirked proudly at that fact.

Though, I got this feeling that he was subtly looking my way again…

"Regardless, we have a way of beating him. We need to hurry before the other villages try to put more pressure on us. The Daimyo's of the Five Great Nations has given Konoha an ultimatum: Get rid of Hiruko." Minato declared before glancing at Jiraiya. "I would like for you to help keep watch over our Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri borders with your extensive network, Sensei. Collaborate with Shikaku Nara on the positioning of our troops if necessary."

The white-haired Sannin smiled. "You can leave it to me. Though, I don't think you'll have to worry too much." He said while looking at me and Kakashi. "The younger generations always seem to be more splendid than the older."

Minato smiled, "That may be true, but I want to be safe." That said, he finally addressed my role in this. "Yoru, I want you to watch over Kakashi while this is happening."

I furrowed my brows. "What exactly is the plan?"

"…Hiruko cast a Puppet Master Jutsu Formula on me sometime in the recent past." Kakashi began to explain. "I'll let myself become susceptible to his control and just as he is about to absorb me, you will attack him with that." He finished, pointing to the see-through cylinder.

"That's risky." I stated. "Something like this can easily screw up. What if you are caught in the blast zone after the contents are released?"

Kakashi picked up the cylinder and walked up to me before placing it in my hands. He looked me in the eyes, "I trust you and your skill which is why I recommended your help in particular "

My eyes widened.

With that, Kakashi left it there as I paused for a moment to ruminate over his words. I sighed, "…I'll do my best to not disappoint the faith you placed in me."

Kakashi nodded.

"Then it's settled." Minato stated. "I only kept it between us 5 in order to prevent any sort of information from leaking ahead of time. With this, you all are dismissed."

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Hiruko & Chimera Friends!**

 **Find and defeat Hiruko before he is able to absorb all Five Kekkei Genkai during the solar eclipse.**

 **Reward: 250,000 EXP, 10 stat points**

 **Failure: death**

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

"You ready?" I asked Kakashi as we stood a great distance away from Konoha.

He nodded his head before closing his eyes.

In but a moment, his head slumped.

Like a mindless drone, his body slowly positioned itself upward, allowing me to see the Puppet Curse Mark on his head.

His eyes glowing red, Kakashi turned around and rapidly made his way to the distance. I immediately followed him and rushed through the trees while simultaneously keeping myself on guard.

The surroundings became a blur as we moved through the densely packed forests of Konoha, landscapes constantly changing due to the speed of our motion. It wasn't until about a minute afterward that the landscapes drastically changed once more.

Gone were the vibrant green trees that made up the lush forests and instead, rocky soil and mountainous regions became more prevalent in my vision.

Before long, grass became barely visible in my view as only mountains of stone were in sight indicating my arrival on the Village Hidden in Stones's soil.

The Village Hidden in Stone (Ishigakure) was not to be confused with the Hidden Stone Village (Iwagakure). As for why they had such similar names that drove many to confusion, no one new…

" _And Mt. Shumisen…"_

As we were now in the Kōrin mountain range, I could finally see the large mountain that greatly protruded from the earth in the distance.

I looked down at Kakashi who was still possessed by the enemy's technique before looking ahead. There I saw a large open gate in front of me in the middle of the wide path that we were taking towards the mountain.

In little time, Kakashi ran through the open gate and I quickly moved to follow him-

" **!"**

I hastily jumped back as little feathers around the gateway lit up before detonating. The wind force generated from the blast pushed me further back and I skidded across the dirt path.

In the same instance, a chakra signature finally came into my range from above causing me to immediately turn my gaze upwards. It was there that I saw a large bird-like creature that had an orange face, green feathers, and white skin. It had a very large wingspan which had distinctive markings that combined near the middle and also had two jet-like pistons near the end of its body, with two tails attached.

" _That looks troublesome…"_

I thought as the bird monster screeched and rained down feathers at me. In but a moment they began to glow as they all surrounded me.

" _I'm not dealing with this."_

 **ID Create: Empty**

The sky turned red

The surroundings became silent

And more importantly,

The feathers disappeared.

With seemingly nothing to distract me in my own personal dimension, I made my way forward-

Ping!

 **[ID: Create] has leveled up by 1!**

 **[ID: Create] is now level 50!**

 **You have unlocked [PD]**

 **ID: Create (Active) Lvl 50 MAX**

 **Available Instant Dungeons:**

 **\- Empty ID [Monsters: None]**

 **\- Zombie ID [Monsters: Zombies]**

 **\- Ghost ID [Monsters: Ghosts]**

 **\- Werewolf ID [Monsters: Werewolf]**

 **\- Vampire ID [Monsters: Vampires]**

 **\- Cyclops ID [Monsters: Trolls/Cyclops]**

 **- _PD_**

 **Cost: 200 CP**

 **PD is your own personal dimension/pocket dimension that you have access to and in which you can store a variety of things from items to living beings.**

I blinked.

And blinked again.

" _Neat…"_

I figured that I might as well check it out for a moment since the Solar eclipse necessary for Hiruko's technique would not occur for a little while longer.

" _ **ID Create: Personal.**_ "

Immediately, spacetime seemed to warp before the scenery abruptly changed.

Gone were the red sun and skies and in its place was a world of pure _white_. I looked around, noting that floating around this empty room of white were white and transparent cuboid structures. They simply hung in the air and I could see some up above as well.

" _Interesting."_ I thought, but seeing as there wasn't really anything unique about it I made to leave and continue on with my mission-

" **ARRRGH!"**

A roar filled with a multitude of emotions sounded from the distance that was barely inside my chakra detection range. I could sense the power of the creature and knew that it was definitely not human. Just as I was about to simply take my chances with the bird, I furrowed my brows as I realized that this chakra signature was familiar…

And then, it hit me.

My expression turned strange.

" **I WILL KILL YOU!"**

Anger and hatred were the primary emotions I felt emanating from the owner of the gigantic chakra signature as it approached me so quickly that I didn't even get a chance to blink as the beast appeared in front of me.

It was a gigantic red monkey with 4 tails.

The 4-Tailed Bijuu.

With a giant leap, the 4-tails launched itself into the air before landing in front of me. The impact of its large body on the ground caused a large shockwave that caused a large gust of wind to pick up.

* * *

 **TIER: High 6C**

 **Name: "4-Tails"**

 **Race: Tailed Beast**

 **Level: Lvl 220**

 **HP: 5850000/5850000**

 **CP: 5850000/5850000**

 **STR: 6000**

 **VIT: 6500**

 **DEX: 4500**

 **INT: 3500**

 **WIS: 3500**

 **ENGY: 6500**

* * *

We looked at each other.

Well, it was more like I was looking at him while he was frothing at the mouth and glaring at me.

It was quite unsettling.

"…I suppose it's a little too late to apologize?"

" **GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T KILL YOU FOR TRAPPING ME IN THIS GODFORSAKEN PLACE!"** The monkey said, raising its arms high in the air.

"Because if you do…" I began. "You will most likely be trapped here forever."

It paused before it slammed his fists on either side of me, deep cracks spreading throughout from his rage. The ground underneath me gave way while the cracks traveled to the distance. The monkey lowered itself to my gaze and exhaled a breath of air from its nose, the resulting winds forcing me to close one eye and raise my arms in defense. " **AND WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE YOU?"**

"Roshi died in my personal dimension." I stated. "And while I had no idea Bijuu could survive after their host died, it looks like you were automatically transported here when he did. I didn't have access to this place until just a moment ago, but it is _mine_. It stands to reason that if I die, this dimension will either collapse and you'll be lost in a dark void of nothingness or, more likely, no one will ever have access to this place and you will stay here forever."

It paused at that statement, its eyes searching me for any traces of deceit.

Its brows furrowed. " **HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN HERE?"**

Well, I killed Roshi when I was 9, so…

"…2 years."

" **2 YEARS!?"** It roared, the resulting shockwave blowing my body away and the surrounding floating cuboid structures that littered the air. It didn't matter to the Four-Tails, however, as it glared at me. " **TAKE ME OUT THIS INSTANT! OR I won't MIND SPENDING THE REST OF MY IMMORTAL LIVE IN THIS VOID WITH YOUR CORPSE!"**

I picked myself up and idly noticed that the floating cuboids were floating back towards their original position before I dusted myself off. "…How do I know you simply won't kill me after we leave?"

The monkey sneered. " **UNLIKE YOU HUMANS, I NEVER BREAK MY WORD! IF YOU WON'T BELIEVE ME, THEN YOU** _ **WILL**_ **DIE. THE CHOICE IS UP TO YOU."**

From the emotions I could detect, I knew that the monkey had immense pride and was definitely not lying. I didn't, however, want to simply let the Four-Tails go without at least getting _something_ "…That's fine, but I would at the very least like to ask you to help me with-"

" **NO!"** It snarled. " **YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO ASK ANYTHING OF ME!"**

I furrowed my brows. "It will be inconsequential to you and will only require as much effort as it takes to flick your finger."

There was a grimace on its face, however, it considered for a moment before its tone lowered. " **Tell me."**

So, I did.

He snickered. " **That's it? It really is that simple…"**

"I'm not unreasonable. I said it would be that simple and I meant it."

A snort escaped the Four-Tail's lips as he replied. " **You humans are all so deceitful. If he is more than I bargained for, I'll simply leave after completing my end of the deal."**

I nodded my head. "Fair."

Then, I raised my hand.

 **ID Create: Empty.**

A formless bubble encompassed me and turned the surroundings into a mirror image of the outside world-

" **Finally! How I miss the green grass, the red sun, and the crimson sky…HEY! WHERE THE HELL ARE WE?!"**

" _He's still here…?!"_ I thought to myself. I hadn't been in contact with him when we left so why had he appeared with me in my **Empty** **ID**? Was it because we had come here from my **Personal ID** so it had just dragged whatever was next to me?

The Monkey looked around before its gaze narrowed as it turned towards me. " **Human! If you dared to trick me…!"**

 **Accelerated Analysis** quickly allowed me to come up with an excuse for my current predicament. "This is an empty world that mirrors the real one. I wanted to avoid any hassles on our way since the enemy has some troublesome minions under it. We can simply travel to our destination while I'm here and avoid all issues. When we exit this mirror world, we will appear in the same position in the real world."

Ping!

 **Lie…partially successful?**

Son narrowed his eyes, " **Fine, but I don't trust you."** Before I could react, I found myself in the grip of the ape who was staring at me harshly. " **You humans are all so slippery, so tell me where you want to go and I'll go there."**

I nodded and told him where we had to go.

I had thought to simply ditch the monkey inside the **Personal ID** and deal with it when I was stronger, but who would have thought this would happen?

" _Is this what they call being a victim of one's own ingenuity…?"_

"By the way, what's your name?" I asked, trying to break the somewhat tense atmosphere between us.

I could feel how startled it was from the question. " **I'm surprised that you know that we even have names or that you care."**

"I don't. I was just curious. It doesn't really matter if you say it or not."

It narrowed its eyes before grinning. " **I am the Handsome Monkey King of the Water Screen Cave; the King of the Sage Monkeys, bestowed with the Dharma name of Son by the Sage of Six Paths. I am Son Gokū, the Great Sage Equalling Heaven!"**

" _Sage of Six Paths…"_ I thought while furrowing my brows. " _Given to him by the Sage of Six Paths? The guy must be powerful if this monkey respects him…or girl, can't be sexist and all that."_

"…Neat."

Son snickered. " **You humans…don't even appreciate the kindness and generosity bestowed upon you by the Sage. Using his gifts for meaningless trifles such as war…Pathetic."**

"…"

I didn't know how I felt about being looked down by an overgrown ape.

I shook those thoughts out of the way and focused on the approaching mountain ahead. Based on evidence gathered from the technique, Hiruko needed three requirements to perfect it and seemingly become immortal: Earth, Heaven, and Human. "Earth" was the mountain itself, "Heaven" was the solar eclipse, and "Human" was the 5 human sacrifices. Since this mountain would be right along the path of the Solar Eclipse, it was the perfect set-up for him.

Along with those thoughts, We finally arrived at Hiruko's fortress in my **ID**. I immediately noted the large castle that was built on the mountain summit in addition to the walls surrounding it. In front of the castle was the only visible entry point which was a large metal gate.

" _It seems like I'm here…"_

"This is where we'll get off." I said.

Son brought his fist closer to his face. " **I'm not letting you go until I see the clear blue skies again. Now, do it."**

With a mental _tsk_ , I raised my hand.

 **ID Escape**

The dimension cracked before splitting apart like glass allowing the natural blue sky and-

" _Oh, right there's about to be a solar eclipse…"_

I thought as the moon began to move over and cover the sun, casting a shadow over the land.

He grinned in ecstasy. " **HAHA FINALLY! THIS ONE IS THE HAPPIEST APE IN THE WORLD! HAHAHA!"** It then beat its chest with its fists and howled in joy. Unfortunately for me, I was still located in his grasp so every time he banged against his chest, my brain was rattled and I felt dizzy.

"…Can you not?"

" **HAHAHA!"** He laughed to himself before simply tossing me away.

I flipped in mid-air and softly landed on the ground before focusing on the matter at hand. I could sense Kakashi's chakra signature behind the metal gates of the palace and knew that I didn't have much time.

I looked at the ape, "I'm going to go inside and do my thing. Just wait for a little for my signal."

" **Don't tell me what to do."** Son sneered before he leaped to the sky and disappeared behind the mountains.

I blinked before realizing that he hadn't ditched me and was just hiding behind the palace.

" _At least he's earnest…"_

And so, without further ado, I entered my **ID**. Since whatever actions I did in here would not be replicated on the outside world, I obliterating the iron gate barring me from my destination. After entering said gate, I finally exiting the **ID**.

I was not prepared for what I was about to see next.

"Yes, Kakashi! Come inside me and give me your sharingan hahaha!" Hiruko yelled in glee as the lower half of his body began to exude a large mass of deep blue, viscous fluid that covered the surrounding area. The fluid formed into tentacles which wrapped around 4 of the 5 individuals around him who were all tied up on crosses.

I contemplated saving them for a moment, but then a different idea formed in my mind…

I watched as they dissolved into a gooey substance that was then absorbed into Hiruko. He looked up to the open peak of Mt. Shumisen which gave him a perfect view of the solar eclipse. "Once you've become a part of me, I will be immortal!" He yelled as his tentacles wriggled and squirmed as they wrapped around Kakashi's legs and arms before they began to drag him into Hiruko's liquidated lower half.

I was stunned.

" _This reminds me of one of those scenes in that adult book Jiraiya gave me…"_

I furrowed my brows and shook my head as I quickly dispelled those weird thoughts. " _Now's not the time. I can't watch as Kakashi gets anally raped by a slime tentacle monster who's also a dude…I will not allow tentacle Yaoi."_

And with those thoughts that highlighted the full extent of humanity's capacity for intelligent thought, I took out the large tube of creepy green liquid I had been given by Orochimaru and threw it. As he had been reveling in the pleasure of almost completing his goal (In addition to the fact that his entire lower half had been converted into a giant, slime like, liquidus agglomeration), Hiruko failed to escape from the vat of suspicious fluid that landed directly into his viscid lower body.

It was only then that he stopped laughing and looked at me in surprise and fury. "What do you think you are doing?! How were you able to get past my chimeric beasts and inside my castle?!"

I ignored him.

" _Explode."_

The tube of liquid Orochimaru had given me exploded inside Hiruko and released its load all over his insides-

I pinched the bridge of my nose " _I need help…"_

"N-NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!" Hiruko yelled as his lowers body began to bulge, contract, and expand at weird intervals. Next, bubbles began to form all over his liquidated lower half-

Before it burst.

Large volumes of suspicious fluid escaped from Hiruko and filled up the room. I, however, would not allow such disgusting liquid to touch my skin and used my water manipulation to split the sea of Hiruko's fluids.

"T-THIS CAN'T BE! I SHOULD BE THE ULTIMATE IMMORTAL SHINOBI! AHHH!" He screamed as he plopped into the lake of his fluids in anger.

I felt around for Kakashi's chakra signature before I manipulated the watery fluid and floated his corpse over to me. Next, I removed the liquid from his person and hoisted him on my shoulder before looking behind me at the locked large metal door.

As I didn't like the way it was blocking my path, I kicked it.

The gates flew into the distance and as if a dam had burst, the fluid in the room rushed out of the new opening. Of course, I continued to make sure I didn't let a single drop of it on me.

"…Wakey." I said as I began to poke Kakashi's cheeks after having walked out of the mountain's interior where Hiruko had built that room.

Kakashi's eyes trembled before they opened and he looked at me. "…Did we get him?"

"It's not completely over yet." I said as I healed Kakashi and sat him up.

His complexion became better and his back straightened as he looked into the cave with a serious glint in his eyes. "…He's coming."

"KAKASHI!" Hiruko yelled before an immense spike of energy erupted from inside the palace. A red beam shot out from the ceiling of the building and reached to the clouds before spreading them apart. The earth trembled and the ground fractured as the energy tore the surroundings…

Before it burst.

A hurricane of wind was generated as the energy obliterated Hiruko's hideout, causing dust and debris to spread all around.

Kakashi covered his eyes in order to protect them while I waved my hand and used my **Wind Manipulation** to dispel the dust cloud and powerful winds.

In front of us, Hiruko softly floated to the ground before eyeing Kakashi like a sack of meat. "Wait, my friend, Kakashi!" He said as he slowly walked towards us with a bright smile. "It's not over yet! The solar eclipse is still here! You can still become a part of me!"

* * *

 **TIER: 7A**

 **Name: Hiruko**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: Lvl 150**

 **HP: 546855/750000**

 **CP: 376883/750000**

 **STR: 2000**

 **VIT: 2500**

 **DEX: 2000**

 **INT: 3500**

 **WIS: 1000**

 **ENGY: 2500**

* * *

I looked at him then I turned my gaze to Kakashi and warned him, "If he gets his hands on you, I recommend you clench your ass as tight as you can."

For some reason, he gave me the strangest look.

"KUCHIYOSE!" Hiruko yelled after dipping his finger in his own blood and slamming his palm on the ground. As soon as the summoning inscriptions finished spreading, a puff of smoke obscured our view for a moment before multiple large chakra signatures appeared.

It was only when the smoke cleared that I saw that Hiruko had summoned a variety of Chimera beasts and even that damned bird was among them.

Good thing I had a plan to get rid of it and Hiruko.

"Son, now would be a good time to show yourself."

" **Hmph."** The ape snorted as he appeared from above, his body growing larger and larger in our view before he slammed into the ground. The earth caved beneath his immense weight while dust and debris picked up from his landing.

Hiruko froze, "T-This…!"

Kakashi's eyes widened, "Is that the 4-Tails?"

" **CALL ME SON GOKU!"** The ape roared in annoyance. " **I HATE IT WHEN YOU HUMANS CALL ME BY THE NUMBER OF MY TAILS! HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF I CALLED YOU PINK-EYE WITH WHITE HAIR HUH?!"**

Kakashi stuttered unresponsively.

"I get your point, but we have more important issues." I said as I pointed to Hiruko and his motley crew of monstrosities. "Get rid of them please."

The ape snorted. " **Fine. After this, I can't wait to never see you again!"**

Hiruko backed up in a panic "W-Wait! I was supposed to be a perfect immortal and complete ninja!"

Son rolled his eyes and flicked his finger in Hiruko's direction.

That was it.

His simple action sounded like millions of paper bombs had gone off at the same time. The sheer wind pressure from his attack immediately shredded up all of Hiruko's summons and I was only able to glimpse at Hiruko's despaired face before my view was blocked by the dust that picked up.

The attack traveled the distance and destroyed multiple mountain peaks along the way before its kinetic energy was finally exhausted.

" **I'm done with my end of the deal! Goodbye!"**

Before I could even say anything, the monkey leaped from his position and picked up a surge of wind from his launch before his form disappeared into the clouds.

Kakashi watched him disappear into the clouds, "So this is the strength of a tailed beast…"

"Don't worry about that. Focus ahead." I said. "Somehow, that thing is still alive. Almost like he's a cockroach."

"I-It's not over yet!" Hiruko yelled as the dust began to settle "As long as you merge with me Kakashi, we'll become matchless! Immortal!"

 **[Hiruko]**

 **HP: 48685** **/750000**

I raised a brow. "How exactly did you survive that?"

I only heard a chuckle in reply before the dust finally cleared and in front of me appeared a Hiruko whose entire skin was covered in a black metallic luster. "Haha! I still have 4 of my 5 kekkei genkai!"

He clapped his hands together as a pillar of red chakra erupted from his body before he began to generate black storm clouds that flickered with electricity. They swarmed around him before traveling up to the sky and mixing with the cumulus clouds already present in the atmosphere. "My **Storm Release** will cover the nation in darkness!"

I frowned. " _What type of bullshit_ _ **storm release**_ _is this? My_ _ **storm release**_ _only lets me shoot laser beams while he actually generates storm clouds…"_

I call hax.

"Kakashi, we must defeat this hacker before he glitches **Mud Style** into **Wood Release**." I said

"…"

Kakashi simply nodded in reply.

Then.

We moved.

We rapidly dashed towards our opponent who received us with a grin.

I reached him first and leveled a punch towards his midsection which he deftly deflected with the back of his hand before he jabbed at me. I blocked him, using my free hand augmented with chakra to slam into his face.

He ducked under my blow.

I raised my knee, intent on caving his lowered face in.

Hiruko merely raised his hands protectively and when I impacted them, I felt like I was hitting metal.

The force of the attack launched him back which was when Kakashi zoomed behind him and attacked. Hiruko was quick to maneuver around and block the impact from behind with his elbow before engaging in hand to hand combat with Kakashi. Their blows were well calculated and precise while their feet shifted and pivoted with each attack as they reacted to each other.

As their hands and feet blurred in combat, I appeared behind Hiruko.

 **Deconstructive Analysis** displayed his weaknesses.

I gathered chakra to my fingertips.

" _Let's hope the Hyuga don't file for copyright…"_

My fingers jammed the weak points visible in Hiruko's arm causing it to slack for a moment.

"You…!" He said as he turned towards me.

At that instant, Kakashi swept his feet from under him.

As time slowed down in my vision, I immediately raised my leg and kicked Hiruko up high into the sky. His face contorted in pain and he coughed up a glob of blood before he screamed

Kakashi and I exchanged a look.

Gabbing his leg, I spun and threw Kakashi up at a higher velocity than Hiruko's ascent. Kakashi passed Hiruko by and reached his apex in the air with his leg raised.

And brought it down.

Hiruko was slammed downwards towards me at immense speeds. I placed my right foot back and just as he reached chest level with me, I _rammed_ my knee into his face causing it to distort with a _crack_ as he flew into the distance.

Kakashi fell to the ground and _puffed_ into a Fuma Shuriken. I grabbed onto the center of the Shuriken and twirled it in my palms before rapidly throwing it at Hiruko's form. The man recovered quickly and just before it pierced his heart, his chest gave off a metallic luster. The large Shuriken bounced off of him with a metallic ring and in my view, time slowed down as it flipped in the air from the rebound.

 **Amenotokotachi**

I appeared right in front of him, a **Rasengan** fully formed in my hand and aimed at his face.

Hiruko grinned and stretched out his palm which had a mark resembling two diamonds, one overlapping the other. In that instant, the energy from my **Rasengan** rapidly dwindled as it was sucked up by the markings on his open hands. "I'll give everything back to you!" Saying so, the diamond on his palm glowed once more before an immense burst of energy was released from it.

At such a close range it would usually be impossible for me to dodge, however, I quickly flicked a kunai in the air and used **Amenotokotachi** to replace myself with it.

Before it detonated.

I jumped back with a backflip and landed in a crouching position.

Suddenly, I was forced to tilt my head both ways in rapid succession in order to dodge the white ropes of bandages that had been aimed at my head. At the same instance, I threw three more metal projectiles in the smokescreen as I used my **Energy Resonance** to pinpoint Hiruko's position.

All I gained in reply was the sound of metal clashing against metal.

I subtlety twitched my fingers.

Hiruko suddenly shot out of the smoke towards me, using his bandages to catapult himself my way. His arm glistening with a black metallic sheen, he shot it forward at my face.

He may have been faster than me based on his stats, but with my **Accelerated Analysis** , I was easily able to read his moves and tilted my head, causing the fist to brush past my cheek. I leaned forward, right arm cocked before I quickly struck a weakness that I had seen with my **Deconstructive Analysis**.

He coughed as he took a step back before he quickly righted himself, took a step forward, and spun a kick aimed at my temple.

I lifted my arm up to guard, feeling his metal coated heel sink into my skin and crack my ulna in the process.

Hiruko smiled and used my arm as leverage to lift himself up and spin in mid-air before he lifted his leg high and brought it down in an ax kick above my head.

I quickly leaned back, his foot cratering the ground as it missed its mark.

And then, he blurred.

" _That's_ _ **Swift**_ _-!"_

 ** _"!"_**

 **Ice Release: Crystal Walls!**

A devastating _crack_ sounded out behind me as my hastily put up ice defenses nearly shattered from Hiruko's attack. Before I could relax, his position rapidly changed as he attacked me from my right side, however, with my increased reaction speed, I was barely able to put up another **Ice Release: Crystal Walls** around me.

This time, it crumbled under the force and speed of Hiruko's blow, however, it was able to slow him down enough. Through my vision, the spots of his weaknesses were made clearly evident the moment he had broken through my **Crystal Walls**. I concentrated chakra to my fingertips and jabbed them forward rapidly towards the greatest weak spot of his that I could see.

His heart.

Having just finished breaking through my **Crystal Walls** , his momentum was still strong enough that he was unable to dodge in time and could only tank the attack with his body. Seeing my fatal attack, Hiruko twisted his body to the side causing my fingers to graze past his chest and make slight contact with his right shoulder.

Hiruko's velocity caused him to fly past me as he quickly controlled his balance and landed his feet in the ground before he slid to a stop. He looked at his left hand which was hanging limply by his side due to its blocked tenketsu and narrowed his eyes at me.

And vanished.

He appeared right in front of me, a wide grin on his face as he held a swirling ball of chakra on his right hand.

My eyes widened.

" _Motherfu-!"_

My **Ice Release: Crystal Walls** were immediately shattered as the enemy used my own technique against me. The **Rasengan** slammed into my gut and _burst_ upon impact causing me to cough out some blood as my poor body was sent flying away. I was forced to hastily flip in mid-air and drag my feet across the ground before I was able to obtain some measure of stable footi-

" _ **!"**_

 **Danger Sense** saved my neck from getting crushed as the wind whipped up above me from Hiruko's missed kick.

 **Parallel Processes** allowed me to react to and block the knee which had been aimed at my face, using its force as leverage to propel myself upwards into the air.

After a deep breath, I exhaled a great dragon-shaped flame with my **Great Dragon Fire Jutsu** towards Hiruko whose expression contorted.

I smirked.

With the tenketsu of his left hand fully blocked, he couldn't lift it to absorb my Jutsu.

My fingers twitched.

Hiruko's eyes widened as his arm suddenly stuck to his side just before the attack impacted his body directly causing a heatwave to spread to the surroundings.

Before I landed on the ground, I sucked in my breath once more.

 **Fire Style: Majestic Fire Destruction!**

A massive stream of intense flames was expelled from my mouth and engulfed the area I had previously set ablaze.

I loved fire style techniques. They were one of the fastest technique types to execute as they required the most minimal movements. In addition, they were very destructive as well.

As I landed on the ground, I tightly gripped the metal wire I had wound around Hiruko in our earlier scuffles and gripped them to keep him in place.

" _This tactic never gets old. I love it."_

"You think…this can…hold…me!?" Hiruko stated as he struggled against the wire, his strength straining his bindings and threatening to break them.

Thankfully, I didn't need them to hold.

At the instant that I had secured Hiruko in place, a Shuriken, an inconspicuous piece of metal in the battlegrounds of shinobi, suddenly _puffed_ in smoke before Kakashi appeared.

His lone sharingan glowed red as he appeared behind the enemy like a predator.

The sound of a thousand birds chirping echoed across the mountains.

Flesh was pierced as Kakashi rammed his fist through Hiruko's back and out of his chest where his heart was.

The battlefield seemed to freeze.

"Ka…ka…shi…" Hiruko said slowly as he turned his head back towards the individual in question before coughing up blood. "If I can't have you…NO ONE CAN!"

My eyes widened as the roar of thunder sounded out from the sky above. Hiruko's artificially produced storm clouds had generated an immense amount of energy which all culminated into a single bolt of electricity that flickered in the eye of the storm.

A thick bolt of lightning, about ten meters in diameter, fell down from the sky.

It was fast.

Kakashi would not be able to outrun it.

Thankfully, he wouldn't need to.

Right before the lightning bolt had descended from the clouds, I flicked a kunai in the air.

The lightning bolt was already halfway to its destination.

 **Amenotokotachi**

With a quick switch in position, Kakashi appeared next to me while my kunai took the brunt of the damage along with Hiruko.

A terrifying explosion rocked our battlefield, the mountain beneath us fracturing into multiple pieces from the sheer force and energy of the attack. The shockwave threw me and Kakashi away from the mountain peak before we found ourselves falling down towards the earth a few kilometers below.

"…Tell me you have a plan to save our lives." Kakashi asked plainly.

"…"

He looked at me. "…We're fucked aren't we?"

"Let me get back to you on that." I replied before using every scrap of mental power I could to get us out of this mess. One pro/con of my **Amenotokotachi** (it really depended on the circumstance) was that when the spatial positions of two or more objects were changed, they still retained all of their Kinetic energy. That meant that if I wanted to switch Kakashi and my position with another object on ground level, we would still splatter and while I would be fine, Kakashi would only be a red smear on the ground and I would prefer for that not to happen.

Another issue was that I didn't have anything at "ground level" anymore since the entire mountain had been destroyed and debris was free flying everywhere.

The last issue was that there was a range limit associated with how far I could transport myself which was directly proportional to the limit of my **Energy Resonance** chakra detection. This was also the reason why I didn't just teleport Kakashi and I back to Konoha the moment the mountain collapsed.

My brain came up with numerous possibilities and ideas in rapid succession as the ground became nearer and nearer. Gravity forced us downwards while the air resistance caused our skin to flap backwards-

" _Wait…!"_

I concentrated on my perfect **Natural Wind Affinity** , utilizing the wind around and moving it to my desires. Below us, I formed an upward current to slow our descent before I wrapped Kakashi and myself in a whirlwind of…well, wind.

Immediately, we slowed down enough just as we were only a few dozen feet from landing. I floated us downwards before our feet gently touched the floor.

Ping!

 **Due to special action, you have created the skill [Flight]!**

 **Flight (Active) Lvl 1 [50.00%]**

 **By controlling the airflow around your body and manipulating it to lift you off the ground, you have achieved the ability to fly.**

 **Cost: 1000 CP per min**

 **Speed: Mach 1.5**

I mentally swiped away the message before looking at Kakashi, "I told you I had a plan to save our lives."

He looked at me humorlessly before a smirk made its way on his face barely visible through the face mask he wore. "In any event, we need to confirm that Hiruko is dead."

I nodded in agreement and used my **Energy Resonance** to catch a whiff of Hiruko's residual chakra. While he was most likely dead (I was 99% sure he was), there would still be some leftover chakra-

"Got it." I said as I spread out my chakra as much as I could and utilized my **Earth Release** to move over the tons of mountain rock that were obstructing me from reaching my goal. In a few moments, I was able to catch a glimpse of Hiruko's body and motioned for Kakashi to follow me ahead.

I walked through the piles of rubble before appearing in front of Hiruko's body and sighing. "He's definitely seen better days."

That was putting it as mildly as possible.

His body was burnt, skin flayed, bones were broken and twisted, and his face was disfigured.

He was dead.

Like, _very_ dead.

You could not get deader than that.

Kakashi nodded before looking at me, "Can you transport him?"

I nodded and placed my hands over Hiruko's body.

 **Ice Release: Ice Coffin!**

Energy coalesced in my hands before it was released and covered Hiruko's still form, forming a cocoon of ice around him.

Kakashi blinked, "Since when could you use **Ice release**?"

"A little over a year and a half ago."

"…neat."

I stored the coffin in my inventory before looking back up at Kakashi, "You wanna fly back?"

He stared back at me with a blank look. "Is that even a question?"

I smirked and gathered wind beneath us before I commanded it upwards.

And then, I propelled us forward.

The sound barrier broke as we rapidly traveled through the air. I also made sure to form a protective wind barrier around us just so that we wouldn't accidentally swallow anything undesirable…

Along the way, I found myself thinking about the true nature of my **ID** skill and how Son had been able to survive inside it. I always just assumed that I was creating some sort of mirror dimension but if that was the case, what would happen to objects or things left inside after I exited? Would they be trapped in some void?

Really, the entire thing was confusing and I still had a lot I didn't know about spacetime techniques anyway.

Suddenly, I stopped.

"Yoru?" Kakashi looked at me questioningly as we floated high in the air.

I looked downwards and noted that we were still in the general area of the Korin Mountain range so many hills and valleys were visible below.

My lips curled downwards in a frown. "I could have sworn I sensed something familiar…" No, I definitely sensed something, but it was fleeting and the signature had disappeared as soon as I had approached.

Kakashi looked down as well and scanned the terrain with his sharingan. "…I'm not picking up any chakra signatures below."

I frowned some more.

Could I have been mistaken?

Even if I was, I wasn't one to take unnecessary risks.

From my outstretched hand, energy coalesced before a ball of lightning formed in my hands, not unlike Kakashi's **Chidori** , but much, _much_ , more powerful.

 **Lightning Style: Lightning Bomb**!

I threw the bomb down towards where I had sensed the signature earlier.

And it exploded.

The blastwave encompassed a few kilometers wide area, turning the stone and grass to ash from the heat and energy of the attack.

"…Was that necessary?"

"Not really, no."

"…"

And with that, we continued on our way.

In a few minutes, the Hidden Leaf became visible to us so I slowed us down and softly landed in front of the gates to Konoha while simultaneously startling the guards there.

 **Wind Release: Flight has leveled up by 1!**

 **Wind Release: Flight has leveled up by 1!**

Seeing us, however, they moved aside and allowed us in to which I nodded and obliged. I felt for Minato's chakra signature and found that I couldn't sense it which usually meant that he was inside his office (or that he was obviously not in the village). With that knowledge, I made my over to his building, Kakashi in tow.

In but a few moments, we found ourselves in front of The door to Minato's office to which I knocked and waited for a moment.

"Come in."

I opened the door and walked inside, seeing Minato working tirelessly on his desk. He paused his work and leaked a sigh of exhaustion from his lips before looking up at us with a smile. "I'll assume that you completed the mission and didn't run away."

I chuckled and waved my hand in the air, causing the ice coffin to appear and slam on the office floor.

"Was that necessary?" Minato asked, face twitching before he looked at the coffin. After confirming the contents, he relaxed back into his seat with a sigh of relief as he closed his eyes. "You have no idea how much pressure I've been in just these past two days. Thank you both, Kakashi, Yoru."

Ping!

* * *

 **[Quest Complete]**

 **Hiruko & Chimera Friends**

 **Reward: 250,000 EXP, 10 stat points**

* * *

"It was no issue, though Kakashi almost had his ass compromised. If I hadn't been there, I fear what would have happened."

Kakashi shuddered and looked at me. "What exactly happened while I was unconscious?"

I looked at him in pity, "Trust me, you are better off never knowing."

"…"

Minato just stared at us and seemingly ignoring everything I had said after 'issue'. "Yoru, take the body to cryogenics since it's already in ice. Kakashi, continue your mission of protecting my wife in the shadows, though I get the feeling that you won't have to do it for much longer." He smiled as he said that last part and continued explaining some more things, but the rest of his words rang silent in my ears.

An ice cold feeling of dread passed through me as he mentioned about Kushina's end of term pregnancy. It was as if my **Danger Sense** was screaming at me to be wary of it.

Ping!

 **[Danger Sense] has evolved to [Instinct]**

 **Instinct (Passive) Lvl MAX**

 **Instinct allows your body to detect danger from your surrounding and your immediate or near future.** **Just like animals are able to sense disaster before it strikes, you too are able to sense when something will go awry.**

I remembered the world where the Ninetails rampaged.

I remember seeing the death and destruction.

Worst of all, I had seen how powerful Son Goku was and I could only imagine the Nine-tails would be much _much_ stronger.

My mind raced as this feeling of dread grew stronger.

What happened that caused the release of the Nine-tails?

It was definitely something with Kushina's pregnancy, that much I was certain.

What could I do to stop it?

If someone orchestrated its release and was able to get past Minato, how would I be able to stop him?

Suddenly, I paused.

If someone or something was directly responsible for the nine-tails' release and had interfered with Kushina's birth process, couldn't I just send them to a place where they _couldn't_ interfere?

I felt like slapping myself.

This whole time I had been worried about this when the solution had been so damn simple. That wasn't even mentioning the fact that my **ID** skill had just leveled up and given me a better way to keep them safe. Even if I hadn't gotten **PD** , I could still have been able to send them into my **Instant Dungeons**.

Now how to convince Minato about-

"Yoru!"

I snapped out of my sudden trance and looked ahead to see Minato staring at me in worry. "Are you alright?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm good." I said as I looked around and noted that while in my Trance, Kakashi had already left, probably having been dismissed.

I took a close look at Minato.

 **TIER: 6C**

 **Name: Minato Namikaze**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: Lvl 178**

 **HP: 1157000/1157000**

 **CP: 1068000/1068000**

 **STR: 3000**

 **VIT: 3250**

 **DEX: 6750**

 **INT: 3500**

 **WIS: 3000**

 **ENGY: 3000**

" _As I thought. He's still so strong."_

Honestly, I couldn't really imagine anyone getting the best of him, but then again, he did have to keep the seal in check while Kushina was giving birth so if he was attacked during that time...

Ohh well, that wouldn't matter anymore

I looked up to him. "Minato."

He looked at me slightly startled, after all, I would only ever call him directly by his name if he either wasn't working or if I had something important and personal to ask.

Someone or something might have been trying to screw over Kushina.

The mother of my adorable Mito.

This was personal.

"When your wife is going into labor and is about to give birth, I want to take you someplace _absolutely_ safe. It's a place that is, as far as I'm aware, unreachable by anyone other than me and I believe that you and Kushina will be able to focus on the newborn there without any complications. Do you trust me?"

There was silence between us for a moment...

Before Minato smirked, "Really Yoru? You should already know the answer to that. Though I have to say that we already went through a lot of preparations for this and so to suddenly change them..."

He had a point.

A lot of precautions were taken when a Jinchuuriki was about to give birth. As the seal would weaken during that time, Kushina had to be taken to a top-secret remote area where Minato would make sure the seal was sturdy while Anbu guarded the outside. This process had already been done once before with Mito. For this baby's birth, I had already asked them to increase security which Kushina had agreed to readily despite it seeming like I was just paranoid...

"There's no need to change them actually." I said after some deliberation. "We can still guard the barrier and everything, it's just that no one will be actually there."

"A diversion?" Minato asked with a raised brow. "From who or what?"

I stared for a moment and contemplated before speaking, "…If I told you that I had a nightmare that the Ninetails got free and attacked the village, what would be your response?"

The atmosphere around him completely changed. There was no longer any kindness or joy on his face as he looked at me with a grave countenance. "I would usually say that it's just a dream, however, judging from your reaction, I feel that there is more to it than that."

I looked down.

"You don't have to tell me." Minato continued. "But, if it is something you feel so strongly about, then I'll trust you to guard us. In addition, I'll send messages to bring back as many of our troops that are off on missions."

My eyes widened in surprise, somewhat startled that he would take such measures just based off of what most would consider unsubstantiated fears.

He smiled, "As a shinobi, trusting your instincts is the best way to keep yourself alive. If something were to happen and I didn't trust my instincts, I wouldn't be able to regret it after I died. If nothing happens and I brought back our on-duty shinobi for no cause, then we'd lose some revenue to be sure, but it would be inconsequential compared to the worst-case scenario. We can all laugh it off after the fact if that were to happen."

Eyes closed and fists clenched, I bowed deeply, "Thank you for your faith in me, Minato."

"Don't sweat it." He said with his smile that seemed even more radiant than before.

…if I was gay, I might have already fallen for him.

Minato clapped his hands. "Enough of that, we're all family here. That aside…" he pointed at the ice coffin, "Aren't you going to bring that somewhere?"

Ahh, right.

I nodded my head and put the coffin in my inventory before bowing my head once more and exiting the room, letting a sigh escape my lips afterward. Next, I looked in the direction of Konoha's hospital and made my way over.

Konoha has a plethora of lab facilities located either underneath the Hospital or underneath the prison. Each, of course, had their own purpose as the ones located under the prison were mainly used for human experimentation where were Orochimaru tended to be. The ones located underneath the Hospital were for autopsies, diagnoses, drug treatment trails, and things of the like.

I arrived at the underground area of the hospital and checked in with some people in cryogenics before bringing the ice coffin over to a room they had available.

With that, I placed it down.

I looked at the corpse of the man who had tried and failed to start another great shinobi war.

I got the feeling that he wouldn't be the last fool to try either.

With those thoughts, I opened the lid of the ice coffin and took out a syringe from my inventory before drawing up some of Hiruko's blood. Well, blood was a loose term since he had changed his body's composition with the use of the forbidden **Chimera Technique** and instead, he had this viscous fluid inside him as well. However, this genetic material was enough for Orochimaru and my purposes.

After the briefing of the mission to kill Hiruko, Orochimaru had called me aside to tell me that Hiruko's genes were probably the last piece of the puzzle to fully stabilize my violent DNA. I was a little hesitant to give him access to the genetic information of a guy who had absorbed 4 kekkei genkai (though admittedly I let him), but I needed it to grow stronger.

This feeling of danger would not leave me.

I wasn't stupid enough to simply ignore it.

With that, I kept the syringe in my **Inventory** and covered Hiruko's Ice Coffin before I focused on one of the tags I kept near Orochimaru's lab.

With **Amenotokotachi** , I appeared behind the door to Orochimaru's lab which was located below the **Konoha Impervious Detention Facility**. Criminals were aplenty due to the war and the facility was packed with war criminals. It was the perfect place to have a lab for someone like Orochimaru.

Feeling said individual's chakra signature behind the door, I opened it and walked in.

Orochimaru's back was turned towards me as he seemed to be extracting something from a centrifuge tube before adding something to it and mixing it. "Your timing could not be any more perfect." He said as he placed the tube down in a bucket of ice and looked my way. "You have it?"

I nodded and tossed the syringe which he deftly snagged from mid-air and smiled. "With this, everything should be complete."

I stood to the side and watched him as he took a sample of Hiruko's DNA and placed it under a microscope before adjusting the instrument.

"Fascinating." He said before he took a small sample from the centrifuge tube he had placed on ice and dropped it on the glass slip where Hiruko's DNA was. He stared at the microscope for a while longer before his body shuddered.

I frowned, thinking something was wrong before I heard him laugh. It started off as a small chuckle before the volume of it increased in octaves and turned into full-blown laughter. "This is it! This is exactly what I thought would happen!"

I waited until he stopped his orgasm.

"With this, everything should be all set." He spoke as he looked back towards me with a grin, "You said that you would let me know what your second favor was after I had figured out how to securely grant you whatever Kekkei Genkai you wanted. Tell me, what do you want?"

"Rasa's **Magnet Release**." I said as I took out the hair I had obtained from the 3rd Kazekage's puppet body. **Magnet Release** involved much more than simply combining two elements and while I felt like I would get it eventually with enough research, I just didn't want to spend time researching it. I had already replicated some elemental bloodline limits and **Magnet Release** was not important enough for me to spent an exorbitant amount of time on it.

That being said, I still wanted it.

"Take a seat." Orochimaru said, pointing to a bed on the side which I calmly obliged to.

The Sannin continued on in his work: Mixing vials here, extracting things there, centrifuging this, vortexing that, etc. Until he placed his finished concoction in a small syringe and flicked it a bit before letting a bit of it dribble out of the needle tip.

I tilted my head, "Can I ask what is in that?"

Orochimaru walked towards me with the needle in hand. "Hiruko's DNA in addition to the Third Kazekage's, and your own are all contained within the serum. Hiruko's genetic information helped stabilize your DNA while I used some other primers to assist in the process."

At that and without warning, Orochimaru jammed my arm with the needle and injected the concoction into my body.

 _Thump_

I could hear the sound of my heart beating loudly in my chest. Next, Orochimaru's voice disappeared at the onset of a painful ringing sound which dominated my ears.

My vision became blurry and my thoughts became slurred. Orochimaru's face was in and out of focus in my gaze and I was unable to keep myself up as I found my balance affected…

Then it stopped.

 **Ping!**

 **Congratulations! You have obtained [Magnet Release]!**

 **Congratulations! You have obtained [Steel Release]!**

 **Congratulations! You have obtained [Swift Release]!**

 **Congratulations! You have obtained [Dark Release]!**

 **Congratulations! You have upgraded [Storm Release]!**

My vision became normal and the rest of my senses returned before I looked at the back of my hands before turning my palm upwards…

I blinked.

" _What is…?"_ I thought as I gazed upon the mark that was on the palm of my right hand. It was a mark resembling two diamonds, one overlapping the other and it was the exact same one Hiruko had used to absorb my **Rasengan**.

By basic process of elimination, I knew that this must have been the **Dark Release**.

"How is it?" Orochimaru asked as he too watched me carefully. "Do you feel anything off? Pain? Unstable emotions? Distorted senses?"

I gripped my hands and shook my head. "No, I feel fine."

Orochimaru hummed before he went to the wall behind me were a bunch of equipment was located. He then placed them on my person. "Just to be on the safe side, I want you to test out your new ability. If you suddenly turn into a repulsive monstrosity, I don't believe either the Third or Fourth Hokage will let me off."

I smirked as I focused on the Kekkei Genkai I had received.

 **Magnet Release!**

With a thought, I spread out my chakra and felt that I could interact with the magnetic metals in Orochimaru's lab and the kunai on my person. With a single thought, the kunai from my pocket levitated and appeared in front of me. I didn't stop there and concentrated on all the metal particles that I could feel around me: the iron dust underneath the ground, the metal laboratory equipment, and the iron door.

I tugged and pulled at them with a mental command and they moved according to my will. Metal beds floated around me while a glittering dust cloud of iron sand floated above my head. The metal door entrance to this room _groaned_ under my command before it began to bend and _creak_ -

"Please don't ruin my lab, fixing it will come out of my own pay." Orochimaru stated plainly as he gazed at the computer in front of him. "Your vitals are incredible but I can see no other abnormal occurrences so this must be your natural resting rate."

I nodded my head and pulled off the cords and wires attached to me. Now then, I finally had an extra ace up my sleeve, however, I kept having this odd feeling as if this was inadequate.

Something capable of releasing the Ninetails was not something I would be able to beat with just _this_.

Even if Kushina and Minato were now basically 100% safe, it was possible that something or someone would attack the village or the barrier.

I needed _more_.

I could _feel_ it.

However, to drastically increase my power in just a few days was not realistically possible.

…I did still have some stat points though.

" _Status."_

* * *

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Race: Human?**

 **Age: 11 years old**

 **Level: Lvl 97 Next Level:** **287700** / **480700**

 **HP: 403760/403760 Regen: (13955 per min)**

 **CP: 639669/** **639669** **Regen: (28807 per min)**

 **CC: 100%**

 **STR: 500 + (292%) = 1460**

 **VIT: 500 + (292%) = 1460**

 **DEX: 500 + (292%) = 1460**

 **INT: 500 + (300%) = 1500**

 **WIS: 400 + (300%) = 1200**

 **ENGY: 400 + (492%) = 1968**

 **Points: 100**

 **Ryo: 6,355,348**

* * *

The most important thing in any fight was strength and speed. My **ENGY** stat was already high enough from all the passive bonuses while I didn't need higher wisdom at this point in time.

With that, I put **50** stat points in **STR** and **DEX**.

With that done, I continued on with my earlier line of thought.

My eyes narrowed.

How could I get extremely powerful in just a few days?

Kushina could give birth at any moment which was why I only had days to work with.

A thought immediately came to mind before it was helplessly squashed.

 **Sage Mode**.

I had never tried to incorporate natural energy with my own chakra because I knew the consequences that would occur should I fail. I may have 100% control over _my_ chakra, but I sure as hell did not have that control over _natural energy_.

I didn't want to risk it

If I turned to stone, I would technically still be _alive_ therefore, I didn't think **Second Wind** would activate and I could be petrified for the rest of my seemingly immortal life.

I would rather die.

It didn't help that Minato had refused to teach it to me when I asked, not out of malice, but simply because even _he_ hadn't fully mastered it yet. I didn't have a toad summon to teach me and unfortunately enough, the only two people in this village with some idea about how to achieve **Sage Mode** _had_ toad summons.

Furthermore, Minato had also told me how tedious and long of a process it was to learn. In the past, I had been constantly on missions so it wasn't like I could take a week, or even a month (since that's how long it took for Minato to gain a basic grasp of it) off to practice this. Danzo would grill me and nag about me doing my duty to the village…and I also had to complete 75% of the missions he sent me. Now wasn't any better since Kushina could give birth at any moment.

What could I do…?

I furrowed my brows. " _Wait, are the toads the only ones that can teach Senjutsu…?"_

I looked to my side and noted that Orochimaru was staring at his computer screen contemplatively and tapping his finger against the desk in thought.

I rubbed my chin.

Orochimaru wasn't one to share his secrets too openly so if he _had_ achieved **Sage Mode** , very few would probably ever find out unless he was forced to use it. That being said, even if the snakes could teach me, how long would it take?

Actually, what was even the teaching process for this stuff?

I contemplated for a moment.

Maybe snakes taught it differently than toads?

Well, asking never hurt anyone.

"Yo, Orochimaru."

"Hnnn?" He replied, his concentration on the keyboard he was typing away at.

I asked, "…I was curious if your snake summons knew anything about **Sage Mode**."

Abruptly, he stopped his work and turned towards me with a peculiar glint. "Oh? May I ask why?"

I thought about it for a moment and figured that the worse I could owe him was another favor.

As long as he didn't ask for anything uncouth…

"I want it." I said succinctly. "However, I know that the toads take too long to teach it and time is something I didn't have in the past and I don't have now."

He looked at me somewhat questionably. "What do you mean? For you, I think time is the least of your worries."

I paused before I shook my head, "…Let's just say that I had a nightmare and if it even has a _grain_ of truth to it, something…unfortunate might in one of these next few days."

His eyebrows shot up at that before he smiled. "Well, you would be happy to know that the White Snake Sage teaches it much differently than the toads. It's much more…direct. It should only take you a couple of days to obtain what you want."

I blinked before schooling my features as I noticed the look in his eyes. "What do you want? And more importantly, what is the catch?"

He grinned. "You know me so well." He said before pausing for a moment in thought. "The risk is…well, your life. Now, what can you offer?"

"…My what?"

He shrugged, "If you want to learn it quickly, you'll literally have to risk your life, but seeing your conviction, that shouldn't be an issue…right?" He finished with a grin

My brows furrowed in thought and I closed my eyes for a moment.

Worse came to worse, I would use up my **Second Wind** life for the day…

With that, I came up with my decision, however, I wondered what I could give this guy.

I looked at his face.

He gave me a knowing look.

" _Of course…"_

 **Steel Release!**

I covered my arms in a layer of a steel-like chakra based substance.

 **Swift Release!**

My figure blurred and I was forced to use **Accelerated Analysis** to keep track of my insane movement speed.

 **Storm Release!**

I focused before I released a storm cloud formed from my chakra, lightning sparking within. This was my upgraded **Storm Release** with not only allowed me to shoot laser beams, but I could also emit actual storm clouds with my chakra and combine them with the natural clouds in the atmosphere.

And finally.

"Attack me with any chakra based technique." I said towards Orochimaru who was looking at me in surprise and a bit of excitement.

He didn't hesitate.

With only a couple handseals, he attacked me with a bolt of lightning.

I raised my right hand.

The moment the lightning came into contact with it, I activated **Dark Release** and sucked in the energy from the attack, feeling it replenish my body. It was as if I had eaten a nice snack as my already full chakra reserved became slightly oversaturated.

"Remarkable…" Orochimaru stated wide-eyed before he glanced at me carefully all around. "How did you…?"

"Hiruko." I said simply. "I had allowed him to absorb the bodies of the other Village's shinobi so that I could gain their bloodlines when you made the serum for me."

His eyebrows shot up before you smiled. "I truly only wanted to see what I could do with your blood now that it was more stable, but this is much more interesting…"

"I knew you would be interested in what my DNA looks like now that it's incorporated Hiruko's own along with the DNA of 4 other Kekkei Genkai users." I replied. "It's yours if you agree to my terms."

He answered without hesitation. "I accept."

I nodded and ran chakra through a kunai in my grasp before slitting my wrist. Blood immediately gushed out for a second before the wound closed. I carefully manipulated the blood with both **Water Release** and **Magnet Release** and formed it into a red floating sphere.

Orochimaru obtained a container and I placed the blood inside it.

He immediately slammed it shut and kept it in a fridge.

He looked at me, "Now then, let us take a little trip."

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

 _ **[3rd Person POV]**_

" _ **Shit…!"**_

The black humanoid creature didn't even get to finish swearing in his mind as the terrain exploded into chunks of rock and debris from Yoru's attack.

Who the hell did that kind of thing?!

Black Zetsu was lucky that he had managed to dig far deep enough that only the supplementary waves of the attack had managed to damage him. His injuries weren't light, but they were nothing compared to what could have happened and the weight of information he had received.

" _ **The Four-Tails has re-emerged!"**_ Zetsu thought as he rapidly traveled back to the hideout where Obito was.

Thinking about him, however, made the artificial human feel like it was sleeping on pins and needles. The main reason for this was because he had never told Obito about Rin's survival.

It had been a shock to find out that the Konoha kunoichi has somehow survived getting stabbed through the heart. The only saving grace was that Konoha had kept her hidden for over half a year which had helped Zetsu fool Obito into believing that his beloved Rin had died.

It also helped that Konoha had decided to build her a tombstone just so that no one looked into her further.

Now, if this was ever found out by Obito, _Zetsu_ would be the one with a grave and all of Madara's plans would go down the drain. The main reason Obito had even agreed with Madara's plans was _because_ of Rin's "death" so if Obito found out that she was alive and that Zetsu had been keeping this info away from him…

" _ **A few more years and it won't matter anymore**_ **."** He thought. After all, by that time Obito would have committed so many crimes and horrors that would have no choice but to move forward with the plan.

All of this, however, would have been a non-issue if it wasn't for _him_.

Zetsu recalled the face of the silver-eyed, white-haired, brown-skinned, _turd_ that had ruined his and Madara's carefully laid out plans. If he hadn't existed and if he hadn't developed **Mystical Healing** , everything would have gone smoothly.

Zetsu knew.

Using his white half to perfectly mimic the facial features and chakra signatures of certain medical personnel really came in handy when trying to figure out how the hell Konoha had gained the ability to regrow limbs.

If Yoru simply hadn't existed, Zetsu wouldn't have to worry about Obito killing him because Rin would be dead as a doorknob; The Four-Tails wouldn't have disappeared for so damn long; and he wouldn't be running away for his damn life because _someone_ decided to blow up a few freaking kilometers of land!

Zetsu narrowed its eyes. " _ **I need to find a way to get rid of him, but first…"**_ he thought as he arrived at the hideout where Obito was staying. " _ **Obito will have to know about the Four-tails' new developments."**_

* * *

 **Stat Update**

 **Tier: 7-B+**

 **Age:** 10.99 - **11**

 **Level:** **97**

 **HP:** **403760**

 **CP:** **639669**

 **STR:** 1460 **\- 1606**

 **VIT:** **1460**

 **DEX:** 1460 **\- 1606**

 **INT:** **1500**

 **WIS:** **1200**

 **ENGY:** **1968**

 **Points: 0**

* * *

 **Guest:** Kishimoto never explains why Kushina's pregnancy lasted 10 months nor do I know the answer. I'm assuming that it has to do with Uzumaki longevity and whatnot, but I can't be sure.

 **Frustrated Reade** : to be honest…I agree. Chapter 11 was an iffy chapter looking back at it. I had wanted to introduce this new system I had envisioned, however it just didn't come out…right. Taking your review to heart, I've decided to edit out a lot of the superfluous elements that weren't needed.


	23. Chapter 23

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

The area in front of me was surrounded by a dense billowing fog. My enhanced sight could hardly glimpse at my forefront while the fog itself saturated my **Energy Resonance** senses, indicating that it was not natural whatsoever.

The journey from Konoha to here had taken Orochimaru and I a couple of hours not only due to its distance but also due to its highly secluded location. The numerous hurdles and passes he and I had had to take were insane, but it was apparently because the White Snake Sage didn't really like to be bothered.

"This is where I drop you off." Orochimaru stated as he stood next to me. "Up ahead can only be traversed by individuals who have a specific desire in mind else the Snake Sage will simply kill you if you bother her for no reason."

I nodded my head before asking. "I'm assuming you already got what you wanted from here then?"

He didn't answer for a moment.

"…partially." He said.

He didn't elaborate further.

"Let Minato know that I might be gone for a little while. I wouldn't want him to worry about me." I asked him. "Also, if Danzo asks, I'm taking my long earned off day."

Orochimaru merely inclined his head before he left in a burst of speed using the **Body Flicker**.

With that episode out of the way, I walked into the fog. As my feet moved forward, I realized that regardless of any which way I looked, there was no path backward. The only sounds audible were those of my footsteps and I could neither see nor hear anything or anyone around me.

I was alone.

Still, I continued onwards.

From what Orochimaru told me about Ryuchi cave, in order to have an audience with the White Snake Sage, I needed to pass some trials. He hadn't told me what to expect as, according to him, the trials would be completely different depending on the mood of the trial giver.

That being said, I wasn't particularly worried about any trial they could throw my way. Whether it tested strength, speed, intelligence, wisdom, power, I was confident in being able to tackle them. The only thing I had to be wary of was that if I _did_ fail any task, the snakes were allowed to eat me and my chakra.

Worse came to worse, I would just run away using my **ID**.

As I continued on my walk, my thoughts took a different turn…

" _ **Sage Mode**_ …"

Orochimaru had already told me that the Snake Sage would be able to grant my request and that I would be able to mold Senjutsu chakra within a couple of days…

But he hadn't told me at what cost.

I had already paid _him_ for this information, but what would the Snake Sage want in return? I knew that nothing in this world was free so if she was willing to give me something like that, even if I didn't have to pay _her_ specifically, I would have to pay _something_.

No matter though.

My mind had already been set.

As these thoughts flitted through my mind, the fog around me began to somewhat clear. In front of my view appeared a bright luxurious palace, a bright sign with the kanji for _**Ryuchi Cave**_ printed vertically above the doorway. On the sides of the door and of the building were many lamps with the kanji for _**Dragon**_ printed in them, whose luminescence illuminated the otherwise gloomy surroundings.

Suddenly, the door creaked open.

I narrowed my eyes.

A woman appeared from the building's interior. She had fair skin and dark hair that was tied into three buns, with one on the front of her head and two on the back. She wore a long, loose-fitting white rob that had green trimmings around the sleeves and neck area, with the neck area also having a green tomoe. She also wore a golden tiara that had green ribbons hanging from either end.

She looked at me with a smile. "We've been expecting you for a while. Welcome to **Ryuchi Cave**."

At first glance, she seemed like a genuine human being with a pretty face and a nice smile.

However, I knew she wasn't genuine.

And she was _definitely_ not human.

* * *

 **Name:?**

 **Race: Snake**

 **Level: Lvl 175**

…

 **State of Mind:**

Is intoxicated with your chakra

Wants to eat your chakra

Feels an odd sense of kinship…

Is somewhat curious about you

* * *

She closely observed me for a bit, her eyes momentarily narrowing to slits before she closed them while that fake smile remained ever present on her face. "My name is Tagorihime. Why don't you come inside?"

I obviously didn't trust her.

However, she was probably part of the trial that I needed to overcome so I nodded and followed her inside the palace. The interior was luxuriously decorated with lanterns and pillars.

The surroundings were glittering…

The atmosphere was peaceful…

The scent of delicious food wafted through the air…

And I did. Not. Care.

"I'm here to see the White Snake Sage." I said simply. "I know that I have to get through some trials to see her, but I'm on a bit of a time constraint so if you don't mind, I would like for us to start."

She blinked in surprise at me for a moment before she tilted her head with a smile. "I see. Please relax for a moment and eat while I'll go get everything set up."

With that, she closed her eyes and inclined her head slightly before turning her back and walking away.

I frowned.

 **Empathy** and **Deconstructive Analysis** told me enough about my opponent.

She was already planning something under that amicable facade.

I found it amusing.

I moved my legs towards the dinner table where a table filled with freshly cooked food was neatly placed on a table.

I smiled.

Did she take me for a fool?

With that, I sat down at one end of the table, crossed my legs and arms, closed my eyes…

And waited.

I sank into **Meditation** , but I didn't fully activate the skill since I didn't actually want to meet **J**.

I wanted to feel the natural energy.

I could easily sense it. Years of research and using my **Mystical Healing** in addition to my **Lvl 100 Meditation** made sensing natural energy simplistic. It was calming and I could feel it ebb and flow in the environment all around me. With just a thought, I could try to absorb some of the energy…

" _Not yet…"_

I would rather die than get petrified for life.

No need risking the latter when I could get what I wanted while risking the former.

Just a bit of patience was needed.

My ears suddenly twitched as the echoes of approaching footsteps rung through them. I opened an eye and watched as Tagorihime approached me with a tray of dumplings in hand and that smile on her face.

She put it down on the table next to me. "Please eat a lot okay? The trial will be over by the time you finish."

I stared at the food in front of me and at the feat laid out around me.

"…Tell me, where did you find the time to cook all of this food?"

She blinked and tilted her head before smiling, "Dear guest, of course, I prepared it as soon as I sensed you com-"

"It took me 10 minutes and 43 seconds to arrive at this place and there are exactly 11 trays of various foods perfectly prepared on this table," I stated plainly. "Even with clones, just the preparation and waiting time for cooking would take much longer than that. Try again."

She raised a brow before giggling. "Of course we sensed you before you entered our territory or how would we be able to prepare for you?"

"That's also false." I replied in disinterest. "I can detect chakra signatures and I definitely did not detect yours at any point _before_ I entered the fog. Try again."

Her smile was strained but she managed to uphold it perfectly as she continued. "Well, of course, this isn't just for you. I had been preparing a feast beforehand for my family-"

I smiled at her with hidden ridicule. "You're not even human so why would you go through all this trouble to "cook" this food for yourself and the other snakes in **Ryuchi Cave**?"

 **Empathy** could sense that she was lying through her teeth.

"Of course it's because I love cook-"

"Stop." I said simply before waving my hand. A burst of wind spread out from my simple movement and blew everything away. The plates shattered all over the ground while the food items scattered everywhere else. "I don't have time for your games so either give me my trial or take me to the White Snake Sage." I said, standing up and looking at the Snake woman who was looking at me wide-eyed.

"You…" she began as she stared at me oddly.

Suddenly, the lights around us shut off before I noticed that the luxurious and delicious food all around me began to decay right before my eyes. Not only that, the inside of the palace was beginning to corrode before it fully broke down.

Then I noticed it.

Bones were littered across the ground around me while the Palace had completely disappeared. Additionally, the fog from before was now once more visible all around me.

The only thing that stayed constant was Tagorihime who had a grin on her face. "Who would have thought that you would easily see through me?"

I looked around once more. " _I thought so…"_

Genjutsu.

Normally, it didn't affect me whatsoever.

However, there were exceptions.

Generally speaking, any ability that tried to interfere with my mind was null because of **Gamer's Mind, therefore,** I was largely immune to almost all Genjutsu.

 _Almost_ all.

It was possible for someone proficient in **Yin Release** to create genjutsu without trying to control someone's chakra flow with their own. Instead, they could affect a particular object or general area and create an optical illusion using their chakra. It was kind of like using the **henge** except you were using it on an _object/area_ and not _yourself_.

Of course, it was more complicated that than.

Since that type of genjutsu didn't control my chakra flow or my mind and only manipulated the sensory information my eyes received, **Gamer's Mind** didn't block it. Furthermore, they could also use that type of mastery to extend to smell and sound. So long as they didn't try to _directly_ affect my mind, they could bypass **Gamer's Mind**.

However, they still couldn't block my **Empathy** and **Energy Resonance**. From the beginning, I had sensed that her chakra was covering the surroundings and the food. If I tried, I could have easily dispelled the illusion, but I was really curious as to what her end goal was for all of this.

Serving me rotten food? Who would play such a stupid and meaningless prank?

I focused on Tagorihime whose face morphed into a snake-like visage as she began to levitate in midair with a feral grin. "It's really a pity that I can't get a taste of your sublime chakra. It smells just so delectable…" she looked at me with an intoxicated expression while her face began to transform back to look more humanlike…

"You lost." A pleasant sounding voice sounded out from the distance behind Tagorihime.

She grimaced. "I know. Our job is to weed out those who wander to **Ryuchi Cave** without purpose."

"Yes…" the voice replied. "Master White Snake Sage only allows us to eat those who fail the trials awaiting them."

Tagorihime looked back towards me. "Those who wander here have given themselves up to madness in search of power. Don't assume you'll make it all the-"

"Wait just a moment." I said with a raised hand. "What are you both talking about? What was the trial?"

The voice in the distance giggled.

Tagorihime blinked. "You found out that the food was poisoned even though I was using my genju-"

"That was it?" I asked, interrupting her.

She nodded.

"…Really?"

Her smile strained and I could sense the annoyance building up inside her.

"You're joking…"

A vein bulged on her forehead as her eye twitched.

"That's…pathetic."

she glared at me. "You…!"

"Now, now Tagorihime." The voice in the distance said in amusement and mockery. "You already failed your part so now it's my turn. Do please step back for me will you?"

Tagorihime _tsked_ and floated backward deeper into the fog, though she didn't forget to glare at me the entire way through.

And then it was silent.

Suddenly, I sensed the presence of a different creature who I assumed to be the owner of the voice. It was only after a moment that I was able to catch a glimpse of her as she quickly appeared through the fog before turning and floating away.

She looked very similar to Tagorihime except instead of three hair buns, she had two and she also wore red eye shadow.

I raised a brow as I watched her float towards the distance before shrugging and following her. She maneuvered oddly and hovered through the dense fog with erratic movem-

 **Ping!**

 **[Gamer's Mind] has blocked a mental intrusion!**

I halted.

It was at this time that the woman in front of me stopped while floating in the air crossed legged and smiled. "My name is Ichikishimahime. Why don't you play with me?" She said brightly before her body vanished into the fog.

Her mysteriousness was meaningless as while the fog prevented me from accurately sensing her position with my chakra detection abilities, I could still sense her emotions. With this information, I quickly followed her, making sure to keep track of my surroundings lest I get stuck in a trap.

In but a moment, I suddenly found myself inside a crystal cave with blue glittering crystalline structures making up the entirety of my surroundings. Pillars and stalagmites made of crystals and were all around me and nothing else.

I heard a giggle and turned my head to see Ichikishimahime pop her head out from behind a crystal pillar. She then seemingly disappeared and popped her head out of another one while looking at me expectantly.

I have her a dead gaze.

She pouted. "You're no fun…" then she smiled. "But I wonder if you will be able to remain so calm all the way through?"

Without waiting for me to answer, she floated from her position and flew towards an opening on the cave wall. I walked in that direction as well and entered the opening before it suddenly shut behind me.

I merely looked around and saw that she had "trapped" me in a small room of the cave. I looked to the blocked opening and noticed that on the door that now covered the entrance to this room, there were many different sized holes. I looked to the ground and saw that it contained many different sized gems.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what this trial was.

"I'm sure you've figured it out by now." Ichikishimahime stayed as she appeared behind me. "Fit the correct gem in the hole in the wall. If you fail…" She licked her lips.

I looked at her uninterestedly.

I could roughly figure out what she had been trying to accomplish by mentally intruding me. This entire setting around me was merely a "mirage" formed by **Yin Release** enhanced genjutsu making it seem much more realistic.

However, it wasn't actually real.

Therefore, she had tried to place me in a subtle mental block so to speak that would only break if I fit every hole in the wall with the correct gem.

However, she didn't know she hadn't put me in a genjutsu.

Truly…sad

"What are you waiting for?" The snake woman said with a smile as she floated upside down. "Have you given up already? You know, I love my chakra on the verge of disappearing before I savor it. You should at least put in _some_ effort if you're going to give u-"

 **Yin Release: Spiritual Pressure!**

An immense wave of energy emanated from my body and spread throughout the surroundings. I packed more chakra into the technique, the resulting effect causing the surrounding environment to slowly crumble.

Ichikishimahime's eyes widened. "What are you…!"

Stalagmites and heaps of rock fell from the ceiling, however, as soon as they touched the ground, they dissipated like the illusion they were. With a short grunt, I released a quick but powerful burst of energy in a complete 360-degree radius around me.

Everything was pushed away.

"AHH!" Ichikishimahime screamed as she closed her eyes and flew back while the **Yin Release** genjutsu she had created completely shattered.

Immediately after, fog once more surrounded my vision.

I dusted myself off.

"How…?" Ichikishimahime stated in amazement as she floated in front of me some distance away. "To be able to so easily break my genjutsu…"

I asked. "Did I pass? And if so can I move on to the next one?"

She narrowed her eyes before sighing. "I really don't like you." She said simply. "You seem like such a pain to eat."

With that, she faded away.

" **!"**

Even if **Instinct** hadn't warned me, **Empathy** had already alerted me to the newest arrival. With a tilt of my head and a slight turn of my body, I was able to avoid the sneak attack that had been aimed my way.

"Tsk." The assailant said before she disappeared back into the fog.

I waited patiently.

From what I could detect, she was a good deal stronger than I was, but my reaction speed and skill would be able to keep me safe-

" **!"**

I leaped backward and flipped in midair as the snake woman attacked me from below. The moment my feet touched the ground, I did a few back handsprings and quickly distanced myself from the attacker.

"You're not too bad." The woman said as she floated in front of me calmly. "My name is Tagitsuhime. Since my two sisters' methods didn't work well against you, I'll be a bit more direct." She said as she licked her lips.

And charged.

My eyes glowed and the world slowed down in my view as the woman approached me, her hungry visage made even more evident.

I took a deep breath.

 **Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!**

And exhaled.

Like a hurricane, my attack tore the ground apart and parted the fog before smashing into the attacking woman. As she was sent flying away with a short scream, I built up fire natured chakra within my body and exhaled it while keeping **Great Breakthrough** active.

 **Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!**

The amplification effects of my wind Jutsu on my fire Jutsu boosted the intensity of the flames to immense levels, the ground below literally melting from the heat.

After a moment, however, I ended my attack and screened the battlefield as her emotional signature had disappeared from my range-

" **!"**

I immediately raised my arms to guard against the sudden blow simultaneously utilizing my new **Steel Release** on them to augment my defenses. As my body rocketed through the air, I narrowed my eyes and quickly grabbed a foldable Wind Demon Shuriken from my inventory. I imbued the blades with lightning, cocked my arm back…

And threw it.

 **Fūma Shuriken Shadow Clone!**

1 became 2

2 became 4

4 became 8…

The ear-piercing screech of the rapidly spinning shuriken rung throughout the battlefield and they continued to multiply. Over 100 Fuma Shuriken moved perpendicular to the ground and tore up the earth along the way.

They reached my opponent.

Her eyes sharp, she quickly bent low and twisted her body, allowing her to dodge in between the gaps between two of my numerous Shuriken…

Just at that moment, I flipped and crouched low, my feet skidding across the ground to a stop. Simultaneously, I clenched my fist, tightened my muscles and _yanked_. Through the wire attached to them, the rigged blades of all the Shuriken disconnected from my motion and launched towards my opponent at immense speeds.

Tagitsuhime transformed her lower body into a serpent's tail and quickly slithered across the ground as the hail of lightning coated blades flew towards her. She deftly maneuvered through them as the disconnected Shuriken blades continually punctured the earth, sparks of lightning flitting off them.

I grinned.

A _gigantic_ powerful ball of swirling chakra formed in my hand.

 **Amenotokotachi!**

I swapped places with one of the numerous disconnected Fuma Shuriken blades and appeared right above Tagitsuhime. Time slowed down in my perception due to my **Accelerated Analysis** and I watched she turned her head towards me, her pupils constricting.

My glowing eyes found all of her weaknesses.

 **Big Ball Rasengan!**

I slammed the attack into her back, her body instantly crashing into the ground. She screamed while the ground beneath cratered immensely from the impact, spiderweb cracks spreading to the distance all around. I drove the technique further into her back before my palm made contact with her skin and I engraved my **Amenotokotachi** on her with my chakra.

With that, I leaped backward and kept a firm distance between us.

 **Critical!**

 **-286600**

My hand reached down and picked up one of the Fuma Shuriken blades off the ground. Since it was already engraved with an **Amenotokotachi** mark, I quickly tossed it high into the air.

I clapped my hands together.

Around this moment, Tagitsuhime emerged from the crater and glared at me with immense killing intent. Her pupils constricted as her body morphed into that of a White Snake before she _hissed_ and charged towards me with her gaping maw.

 _110 meters…_

I continued to focus on the task at hand.

Immense amounts of chakra coalesced between my palms as sparks of electricity flickered. The ball of energy grew and grew, the pressure from its presence causing my feet to sink into the ground.

 _70 meters…_

It then expanded incredibly.

 _45 meters…_

Then, I condensed it.

 _20 meters…_

My gaze turned upward as I raised my hands into the air towards the airborne Fuma Shuriken blade…

 _5 meters…_

And let loose.

 **Lightning Style: Lightning Bomb**!

 _1 meter away…_

Just as I could feel her breath on my face…

 **Amenotokotachi!**

The Snake woman switched places with the Fuma Shuriken in the air and was in the path of my attack. I watched as her eyes widened at the ball of energy that was ever expanding in her vision…

Before it connected.

A devastating blast of energy swept away the nearby fog instantaneously and generated immense amounts of heat. The lightning sparking off the attack charred the ground even though it was so high up in the air while the tumultuous winds caused my clothes to flutter while I gazed at my technique.

Then it stopped, the explosion of energy having run out of fumes.

 **Critical!**

 **-692850**

 **HP: 172550/1152000**

An object cast a giant shadow over me and I turned my gaze upwards to see that it was a snake falling from the sky. I took a step back right before the snake crashed into the ground in front of me. Its scales were charged and it's breathing was labored, yet it was still well and alive.

"Did I pass?" I asked the snake woman who was groaning on the ground. "Or do I have to kill you?"

Of course, I was quite literally 99% out of chakra since I would not have won had I not used almost every ounce of it in my last attack. With my current condition, I would only be able to muster a normal **Rasengan.** Anything greater and I would most likely faint from chakra exhaustion.

But she didn't know that.

The snake's body shuddered before she quickly transformed back into her human form. She looked up at me begrudgingly before she flinched and supported herself on the ground. "You…"

" **That's more than enough."** An elderly but powerful voice boomed.

Right at that moment, the fog _completely_ parted, allowing me a picture clear view of where I was. I was on a well-paved walkway while on either side of me lay tombstones. I looked in front of me at the direction of the voice and saw that there was a temple standing there. It had the kanji for _**Ryuchi Temple**_ printed horizontally across it on a banner above the door. I could tell from its look and feel that it was not some illusion created by genjutsu like the one Tagorihime had created when I first appeared.

" **You kids are all so noisy…"** the ancient sounding voice said with a sigh before it continued with more power evident in its tone, " **Those who come here seek to obtain the Sage's power. You who have passed all three trails have earned the right to see me.** _ **Come**_ **."**

I looked to Tagitsuhime who was now shakily on her feet before I looked back in front of me towards the stairs leading up to the **Ryuchi Cave** temple. With nothing left to interest me here, I headed up the stairs and arrived at the door to temple.

As if sensing me, the door opened on its own as I approached and I entered inside. Looking ahead, I saw that there were stairs that led up to the top of the temple where the snake Sage was no doubt located.

And I could _sense_ her.

She was powerful.

Frighteningly so.

With a little push off my feet, I scaled the entirety of the flight of stairs and arrived at the place where the snake Sage was located. There in front of me was an old lady who was laying down propped up on her elbow on what looked like a couch.

I simply asked, "Is there a need for the illusions?"

The old lady smiled and her eyelids narrowly opened, showcasing her yellow eyes and slitted pupils. "No."

Her current form dissipated like mist before in its place was an extremely large, albino rat snake, many times the size of a human, her massive body wrapped in thick coils along which were yellow circular bands. She wore a turban with two pointed edges and a red orb on top along with an orange headdress. She wore a chain with a green orb around her neck and also smoked as well, using a long cigarette holder.

This was the true form of the White Snake Sage.

I nodded my head before asking. "I'm going to assume you know why I'm here."

" **Of course I know."** She said, smoke puffing from her cigarette. " **Within Ryuchi Cave, there is nothing my ears cannot hear."**

"Then, this should be quick." I replied. "Since I've already passed the trails necessary."

The Snake Sage chuckled and puffed some more smoke before asking, " **Before that, entertain this old lady with a question of mine. Who brought you here? Only those who deliberately seek out Ryuchi Cave can come here."**

"Orochimaru." I simply replied, seeing no reason not to.

" **Hehehe!"** She laughed to herself. " **A man filled with insatiable avarice for knowledge and power…I wonder what you could have possibly given him to help you?"**

"Something he wanted." Was all I replied.

The White Snake Sage chuckled to herself once more. " **Humans are filled with such an unending amount of greed…all those who come to me have abandoned themselves and everything out of such avarice."** Her eyes gazed down at me before she asked. " **Since you passed the trails and are here to learn Senjutsu from me, I will grant you your desires. Tell me, do you know how I teach Senjutsu?"**

I paused and shook my head. "No, I was only told that you taught it very…directly."

She smiled.

" **That's one way to put it."**

" **!"**

I couldn't even see it coming.

All I could feel were her fangs injected into my body.

My eyes widened substantially.

I could feel a foreign but familiar substance being injected into my body.

Natural Energy.

 _Thump!_

The White Snake Sage removed her fangs and went back to her previous position while looked down at me. " **This could be considered your final trial."**

 _Thump!_

I staggered a feeling of numbness shooting up my body as cold sweat dripped down my face.

" **If you can survive this, then I will accept you."**

 _Thump!_

My vision swam as numerous gigantic White Snakes appeared in and out of focus in my view.

" **If not, I will devour you."**

 _THUMP!_

"Ngh!" I grunted as my body collapsed to the ground. I was barely able to use my shaking hands as support while my breathing became labored.

Before I felt it.

 _Pain_.

Unimaginable pain ripped through my body.

My body spasmed and my fists clenched as I tried to force the pain down, but it didn't help. The pain was as if flesh-eating ants were gnawing at my skin and crawling through my veins and arteries.

I believed I screamed as I felt the vibrations from my throat as I opened my mouth, yet I couldn't even tell from the insistent ringing in my ears.

That didn't change the fact that my veins were popping while cold sweat was dripping from my body.

The thought of dying didn't really register to me as I would just come back anyway, but by God how much this hurt.

 **Gamer's Body has leveled up by 1!**

 **Gamer's Body has leveled up by 1!**

 **Gamer's Body has leveled up by 1!**

 **Gamer's Body has leveled up by 1!**

 **Gamer's Body has leveled up by 1!**

 **Gamer's Body has leveled up by 1!**

 **Gamer's Body has leveled up by 1!**

 **Gamer's Body has…**

…

…

 **[Gamer's Body] has reached level 200 [MAX]!**

 **Ping!**

 **You have unlocked the sub-perk [Resistances] by reaching level 200 on [Gamer's Body]**

 **Ping!**

 **You have unlocked the innate trait [ $ &%# &!] by reaching…**

 **Ping!**

 **[Sage Transformation] has been unlocked by reaching level 200 on [Gamer's Body]!**

 **Ping!**

 **Using [Sage Transformation], You have unlocked [Sage Mode]!**

 **[Sage Transformation] and [Sage Mode] are synonymous!**

 **Sage Transformation {Mode} (Active) Lvl MAX**

 **Sage Transformation is a method of attaining Sage Mode by utilizing special body fluids and exposing them to natural energy. The resulting bodily reaction leads to a gain in increased physical capabilities such as in strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, perception, and durability, along with improved power of techniques. The resulting increase in your abilities is dependent on how much chakra or energy you have.**

 **Increase STR by (ENGY * 0.75)**

 **Increase VIT by (ENGY * 0.75)**

 **Increase DEX by (ENGY * 0.75)**

 **Increase ENGY by (ENGY * 0.75)**

 **100% Increase to Movement Speed**

 **200% Increase to Durability**

 **250% Increase to Reaction Speed**

 **1000% Increase to Sensing Range**

 **Error…!**

 **Error…!**

 **Er- &$#%!**

 **Analyzing Error…**

 **Error Located…**

 **Rapid Forced Change To Hosts Body!**

 **Searching For Patch…**

 **Method of Correction Found!**

 **Patching Error…**

 **You have Leveled up!**

 **You have Leveled up!**

 **You have Leveled up!**

 **Congratulations! You have reached level 100!**

 **Ping!**

* * *

 **Quest Complete!**

 **To Infinity and Beyond!**

 **Reward: System Update**

* * *

 **[System Update Criteria Has Been Met]**

 **[System Updating…]**

 **[System Will Be Offline During Update]**

 **[System Update: 0.00000106%]**

I fainted.

 **{-Yoru: Gamer-}**

" **If you fail, I will devour you."** The White Snake Sage said as she looked at the young human…no, the creature in front of her. She truthfully didn't believe she would get that chance, however.

From the moment he stepped in, she could _sense_ that he was different. It was very faint and if not for her living for so long and her own capabilities, she would have missed it. Whatever he was, he was not _completely_ human at the very least…he smelled just _barely_ like the snakes in-

Her expression changed.

" **What…!"**

She felt it.

An extremely powerful aura erupted from Yoru, one that continued to grow in intensity until it fully enveloped her.

Her heart nearly seized.

This palpitating aura…!

Then, the White Snake Sage saw it.

He began to transform.

Pristine white scales appeared on portions of his body, covering the outer edges of his face and extending down from the side of his neck to the sides and back of his arms, upper body, and lower body. Pure white horns grew on either side of his head pointed slightly backward. His hair became aflame with _brilliant_ pure white energy. His eyes changed color, turning golden from their originally silver coloring. His pupils transformed, narrowing vertically and constricting…

Like a snake's.

This was… _wrong_.

Very wrong.

Whenever the White Snake Sage bit into an individual and injected natural energy into them, they would undergo a process known as Snake-ification…they would become more snake than human in the process of obtaining Senjutsu. If they survived, she would obtain them as an apprentice and teach them how to mold Senjutsu and if their body was compatible enough, they would obtain Sage Mode.

But he…

There was no way had never been human to begin with.

Whatever Yoru was going through…it wasn't it.

This energy being released from him could not possibly have come about from the snake-ification.

However, before the White Snake Sage could contemplate any further.

Her eyes widened. " **That…should not be possible!"**

A brilliant cloak of pure white energy covered Yoru's body, the winds churning in response. The ground beneath Yoru cracked while portions of his white chakra shroud formed into ethereal snakes that moved and coiled around his body. His previously downed form was slowly raised by the snakes until he was on his feet again. His body stood tall though his gaze was completely blank.

He was unconscious.

But more importantly, he had obtained **Sage Mode**.

Then, her eyes constricted.

The aura emanating from him…now she was sure.

He wasn't human.

The pressure emanating from Yoru physically manifested in the surroundings as cracks spread throughout.

As she stared into those shimmering golden eyes, The Snake Sage was reminded of the days where she was a mere hatchling looking up to the snake elder at that time.

No.

The feeling she got was even more intense.

It was as if she was staring into the eyes of a beast she could not even comprehend.

One which would devour _everything_.

This feeling of weakness wasn't borne out of some disparity of strength…

It was simply due to heirarchy.

" **What are you…"** the Snake Sage muttered as she leaned back and cautiously stared at Yoru.

The building and the surroundings were trembling from his energy output, dust falling from the ceiling in response to the stimulus.

"Master!"

"Lord Snake Sage!"

"Sage-sama!"

Three voices yelled as they burst into the hall. Feeling the palpitating aura emanating from the top of the hall where the White Snake Sage stood, they quickly made their way up there only to pause in shock.

"What is…" Tagitsuhime began to ask as she stared at Yoru's Still form in shock. The pressure emanating from him caused her body to tremble in trepidation and the energy released from his body…how could she not be familiar with Senjutsu?

Ichikishimahime made sure her distance though her eyes sparkled as she gazed at Yoru…

"Master, what is happening?" Tagorihime asked, her eyes carefully scanning Yoru.

The White Snake Sage didn't reply as she continued to observe Yoru.

"To be able to achieve Sage Mode in mere moments…" Tagitsuhime stated as she calmed the turbulent waves in her heart before she noticed movement next to her. "Ichikishimahime, what are you…?"

The White Snake Sage's pupils shrank. " **Don't touch-!"**

It was too late.

Blood splashed through the air.

There was a pause as Ichikishimahime eyes widened before she looked to her now empty right arm socket, blood dripping from the wound. Her heart froze as she looked at Yoru's arm only to see a giant white scale in his grasp.

The terror in her heart could not be described.

This type of speed…!

If he had aimed for her head…

Ichikishimahime shuddered and slowly stepped away before she looked at her empty arm socket. In but a few moments, her arm began to regrow before it returned to its normal size. Since her current form was merely a transformation and not her true form, Yoru had not truly done any true harm by ripping her "arm" off. However, the event was enough to make her that much more apprehensive. "I just wanted to touch his scales…"

Both Tagorihime and Tagitsuhime looked at her incredulously.

" **He is unconscious, however, this makes him even more dangerous."** The White Snake Sage said as she puffed another plume of smoke from her cigarette. " **He is moving purely on instinct so anything that comes close to him will be regarded as an enemy."**

"Then…" Tagorihime began as she looked at the pure white aura radiating off of Yoru and the white ethereal snakes of energy coiling around him. "What are you going to do?"

" **Nothing."** The Snake Sage replied as she leaned back. " **I will simply wait for him to wake up…he passed this trial after all."**

"When I first saw him, he gave me a familiar feeling…" Tagorihime stated. "it's now more intense and…suffocating."

"What…is he?" Ichikishimahime asked as she once more gazed at her scale in Yoru's hand and his own scales covering his person.

The White Snake Sage glances down at Yoru, another puff of smoke escaping her lips. " **He's…"**

" **An anomaly."**

 **{-Yoru: Gamer-}**

" _ **I can't say that was a good or bad decision on your end."**_ _Were the first words_ _ **J**_ _told me as I appeared in front of him._

"… _I didn't think it would turn out like this." Was the only reply I could give._

 _He shook his head._ " _ **No, I suppose it truly cannot be blamed solely on you. Your Gamer's Body and its forceful improvement were due to a variety of variables."**_

"… _oh?" I said with a tilt of my head._

 _He nodded._ " _ **For starters, if you had simply leveled it up naturally to Level 200, you would have unlocked Sage Transformation and obtained Sage Mode. It also didn't help that you had injected yourself with exogenous genetic material some moments prior."**_

"…"

 _ **"Additionally, with Gamer's Body, you already had perfect attunement with natural energy and if you had simply tried to absorb it, you would have succeeded on your own."**_

 _I looked at him with slight incredulity, "...Why didn't you ever tell me this?"_

 ** _"You never asked."_**

 _My right eye twitched._

 _ **J**_ _sighed._ " _ **It's only fortunate that it could correct itself before something worse happened. At the end of the day, as long as you're fine and your body hasn't turned into a genetic monstrosity, then all is well. Now, however, since you were prematurely forced to increase your level, I'll have to start working on that last update…"**_ _he said as multiple screens appeared in front of him before he began to rapidly type and move between them._

 _Another round of silence._

 _Before I asked._

"… _why do you care?"_

 _Something had been bugging me for quite a while now and it wasn't until I saw him again that I pinpointed what it was._

" _Last time when I asked you what I was, you went on about how I was human but not human. That's fine and I suppose it answered my question, but there's still one thing bothering me."_

 _ **J**_ _stopped his hand movements and glanced at me briefly before looking back at his screen intently._

 _I looked at him, my brows slightly furrowed. "You said that you cared about me. Why? as a self-proclaimed hyperdimensional being, what could you see in me? why did you give me this ability? but more important than that, what do you want?"_

 _These were what had been bothering me for some time now. It just made little sense for him to care about me just as it made no sense for me to care about the ants I stepped on when I walked. Of course, the difference between me and_ _ **J**_ _was supposedly much greater than that between me and an ant, but the general idea was still the same. Did he have a hidden motive? But in that case, what could he possibly want from me that he couldn't get himself if he was as powerful as he claimed?_

 _I suppose all my questions could be summed up as, "What am I to you?"_

" _ **My only job is to keep you safe and make sure things run smoothly."**_ _He simply replied as he went back to work._ " _ **As for what you are to me, obviously I am you, therefore, I don't need anything from you nor can you give me anything."**_

" _What are you-?"_

 _ **J**_ _furrowed his brows as he looked at the screens._

" _ **Unfortunately, because of you, I have a lot of things I need to focus on right now so we can have this conversation at a later date."**_

 _Before I could protest, my vision suddenly swam and warped as I felt a tug on my soul. I was immediately pulled away from my position until I saw the Tree pull further and further away from my vision…_

 _ **{-Yoru: Gamer-}**_

 _ **[Location: ? 3rd Person POV]**_

" _ **It's almost time…" J**_ _thought to himself as he watched Yoru leave before he stared at his hands._

 _Very very faintly, one could notice that there were minute motes of light emerging from his being and floating away. The rate was extremely slow and it was hardly noticeable, but it was still occurring._

 _ **J**_ _sighed._ " _ **It's almost been 10 years…My job will be finished soon and after that…"**_ _he looked up to the Tree._

 _He had never had that long to exist, to begin with. The moment Yoru's physical body had been made and placed within the elemental nations, his time had been ticking._

 _But all was well._

" _ **Once this thing can finally run on autopilot, I won't be needed anymore anyway. It's a good thing I'll have plenty of time to make sure everything checks out."**_

 _ **J**_ _smiled._

" _ **And then, I can disappear."**_

* * *

 **Author's Note: If you want an idea of what Yoru looks like with Sage Transformation, look at a picture of Sting's (From Fairy tail) Dragon Force mode and imagine Yoru having that sort of distribution but with his scales looking similar to Natsu's when he goes Dragon Force (Also from Fairy Tail). Then imagine Mitsuki's Sage Mode with the ethereal snakes. Also, remember that his aura and everything is pure white.**

 **On another note, the last chapter was my most reviewed chapter and despite some reviews not being the most pleasant to read lol, I still want to thank all of you who took the time to do so. That being said, I'm getting tired guys and soon I'll need to take a break, but not until I finish with this** _ **Naruto World: Alternate**_ **arc. I'm a junior in college and come summer time, I'll have to focus on studying for the MCAT meaning that while I'll have time to write, I won't be able to put out chapters nearly as fast as I want to, nor will I have the time to consistently work on them. What I plan to do is spend time during my summer break researching the worlds I want Yoru to travel to (meaning reading and watching all the relevant information), coming up with an outline, and writing a little bit at a time until my summer break ends in September 1st~ish. The hope is that by then I'll have enough chapters as a buffer that I'll be able to put out. Don't worry though, I still have enough content planned for ~7 more chapters of this** _ **Naruto World**_ **arc before I take my break.**

 **And no, I'm not quitting, just taking a needed break since I do have a life outside this lol.**

 **Anyway, thanks again for the reviews and for sticking with me and my story thus far. For those who read up until this point, you are the** _ **best**_ **.**

 **Love,**

 **jordanvn**

* * *

 **Stat Update**

 **Tier: 7-B+**

 **Age:** **11**

 **Level:** 97 - **100**

 **HP:** 403760 **\- 452755**

 **CP:** 639669 **\- 708660**

 **STR:** **1606**

 **VIT:** **1460**

 **DEX:** **1606**

 **INT:** **1500**

 **WIS:** **1200**

 **ENGY:** **1968**

 **Points:** 0 **\- 15**

 **Skill Update:**

 **Gamer's Body:** lvl 175 **\- lvl 200 MAX**

 **Sage Transformation {Mode}: lvl MAX**


	24. Chapter 24

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for all your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 24**

Yoru blinked.

Then he blinked again.

He looked around, noting that he was still in that snake's chamber. This was also supplemented by the fact that said Snake was staring at him carefully while still smoking that cigarette in her mouth. He regarded her for a second before putting her to the back of his mind and looking at the state of his body.

He lifted up his arms and looked at his pristine white scales which radiated energy and shimmered in the light. He focused on the energy coursing through and around him, glancing at the ethereal snakes made from his Senjutsu energy. He reached his hand towards his head and touched his horns.

"Truly beautiful…" Yoru said out loud, his expression serene. He was simply stating a fact about himself, uncaring about the other individuals in his vicinity. He then clenched his fist, feeling the raw energy within him before he utilized it in order to control the white energy snakes around him. They hissed and coiled according to Yoru's will and he stroked them as if they were alive.

"You must have helped me up right? " Yoru said while petting his ethereal snakes.

The Snake Sage blinked, " **I did n-"**

"My words were not directed at you." Yoru replied simply, cutting the snake off.

The Snake Sage looked at Yoru blandly, though she felt somewhat amused by this sudden change in personality.

In response to his words, Yoru swore he heard some gusts of wind blowing some form of complaints besides him. He could barely be bothered with those three gusts of wind behind him. However, their antics served to irritate him. "Silence." Yoru said, using his spiritual pressure to quiet the gusts of wind blowing noises in his ears.

With that, they blew no more and he continued his focus on his ethereal snakes who seemed to have some sort of will of their own as they joyfully coiled around his arm. "Seeing _Me_ on the floor of all things…it must have been unbearable."

The apparent target of his words, the white energy snakes, hissed in agreement.

As Yoru finished petting his energy snakes, he graced the large snake in front of him with the view of his visage and looked up.

The White Snake Sage lowered her head and looked to Yoru in intrigue. " **Interesting…"** she stated as she observed Yoru's detached and aloof expression. " **I've never seen such a transformation occur after obtaining my snake Sage Transformation."** She then raised her head back up and nodded in approval. " **Since you passed the test the test, I accept you."**

"That is only natural… _I_ am perfect." Yoru stated calmly as he stared up at the White Snake Sage. "That being said, _I_ dislike being looked down at; lower your head."

The Snake Sage looked at Yoru humorously before she chuckled. " **Truly an interesting anomaly."** She said as she released some smoke from her cigarette. " **And what if I don't?"**

Yoru's expression remained unwavering as he simply tapped his foot off the ground. The floor beneath his feet shattered as he zoomed into the air before flipping and landing on the White Snake Sage's head. "Then I'll simply step over you."

The Snake Sage chuckled in low octaves before it turned into full-blown laughter. **"You're an amusing little thing! I'll tell you that hatchling."**

Yoru didn't answer her words as he took in the much grander view of his surroundings, he asked. "Tell me, how long have I been in that state? You have my permission to speak."

" **5 days."** The Snake Sage replied as she took another puff of her cigarette and let the smoke saturate the immediate atmosphere.

Yoru blew the smoke away with a single breath while he absently thought about how irritating it would be if he had missed Kushina giving birth.

That being said, Yoru knew it had been him who had asked her to grant him her power, so if he did miss the baby's birth, that was on him.

He would never admit that out loud, however.

Yoru released a sigh, the soft expression on his face creating a radiant picturesque view that was only further exemplified by the pure white energy being released from his body. "Very well."

With that, there was a pause.

No one spoke.

The White Snake Sage continued to smoke without care as if Yoru wasn't even on her head while the boy in question remained unmoving, an unreadable expression on his face.

Ichikishimahime, Tagitsuhime, and Tagorihime remained speechless the entire time.

Never had they seen such blatant disrespect and disregard towards the White Snake Sage go so completely unpunished. They wanted to say something, but they felt like they didn't have the right to speak any words. From Yoru, they had felt an indiscernible pressure leveled at them when he had "silenced" them, one borne not from strength, but from some form of hierarchical...suppression.

He had felt like…a king above them.

" **Say."** The White Snake Sage began. " **Why don't you become a snake summoner? Compared to Orochimaru, you have much more comparability with us. I truly find something like you truly...interesting."**

Yoru thought for a moment.

Since the days of old, kings always had exotic animals that displayed their grace and bearing; From Lions to Tigers to even…Snakes.

As someone with an incredibly majestic presence, one above that of any king, it was important for him to have a pet that would exemplify his bearing multifariously. Yoru had at first thought of taking the snake below him, however, he immediately cast away that thought. She was much too old and having lived in this cave for so long, her body had grown together with the ground. It would be quite inconvenient to untangle her entire 20 meters + long body off around those pillars…

No, he needed a fresh pet.

Yoru twirled a bit of his white flaming hair around his finger and thought for a moment. If he was going to get a pet, he needed one that was powerful and could at the very least accompany him as his strength rapidly grew. However, a creature fit for his stature and also able to accompany him as his power rose was nearly impossible to find…in this realm at least.

Would he have to wait?

Yoru's brows furrowed.

Suddenly, he gained a brilliant idea. " _If I can't wait…then why don't I make one?"_ Yoru said to himself. With this brilliant thought, he stated, "I agree, however, I will go and personally create my partner."

" **Sure, do whatever."** She said bemusedly. " **Have those three show you around."**

Yoru didn't answer as he hopped off her head and for the first time, barely regarded the three gusts of air as he spoke a few sentences. "Direct me to the hatchery." That said, he walked past them and down the stairs, as if he expected them to follow him from behind.

Why would they not?

Who would disrespect _him_?

As for the reason he was walking ahead of them even though he had asked them to direct him…who would dare to walk in front of _him_?

As expected, the three gusts of air followed behind him and pointed out the directions to the hatchery where the baby snakes manifested. Exiting the building in which the Snake Sage resided, they took a right here, a left there, another left…until finally, they arrived at their destination.

Yoru's golden eyes gleamed as he swept the surroundings and took note of the numerous hatchling snakes within. As if noting the grandeur of his majesty, they all stopped moving and lifted their heads towards him, as if awaiting orders. Yoru walked to the center of the room, the snakes parting way for his arrival. A kunai in hand, Yoru augmented it with Senjutsu and brought it down on his wrist.

His arm flew off and blood spurted out like a torrent of water. With his will, Yoru easily manipulated and drew out more blood from his body while holding onto his dislodged hand. With that, he reattached his cut of hand to the spot it came from and twisted it a little before the wound sealed shut. After flexing his wrist and clenching his hand a few times, Yoru nodded his head in satisfaction.

A big glob of his previous blood stood floating in the air in front of him while he looked around at the snakes standing to attention. "One of you will grow up to be my precious pet." He iterated before continuing. "The rest of you will perish."

That said, he controlled his glob of blood and split it off into numerous droplets which he then integrated into the bodies of all the hatchlings here. "Of course, even _aiming_ for such an honor will require you to go through a trial." Yoru said simply. "If you can survive my blood, then you have potential. If more than one of you survive, well…" Yoru turned his back and began walking towards the exit. "I only need _one_ pet."

As soon as he arrived at the door and exited the room, the snakes writhed in pain on the floor as their body fought to accept and adapt to Yoru's blood.

The door of the hatchery closed behind him.

He waited there, ignoring the three gusts of wind beside him, as he stood ramrod straight, his hands clasped behind his back and his head held high.

Silence reigned once more.

He waited.

And waited some more.

And then…

"It is done." Yoru said as he turned around and opened the door to the hatchery. Inside, the smell of blood was thick as the corpses of hatchling snakes were scattered all over the ground.

Yoru looked ahead.

There, in the center of it all, was a snake whose scales were almost as pure white and pristine as his own and whose eyes shimmered with a golden radiance. It seemed like it had a great affinity with his blood as it manifested a powerful presence.

Yoru looked at it unemotionally. "Come."

The hatchling Snake immediately obeyed and slithered towards Yoru before attempting to coil up his body. Yoru's apparently sentient ethereal energy snakes hissed and moved around the hatchling snake, watching and judging it. Seemingly satisfied, they allowed the hatchling snake to coil up Yoru's body.

He smiled at their antics and maneuvered the hatchling to coil around his left arm. Bringing it closer to his face, Yoru observed it, noting that _it_ was actually a _female_ before he nodded and simply stated. "Your name will be…Levia. Accept it graciously."

The Snake hissed happily and coiled itself tightly on Yoru's arm causing him to smile. "You will be my precious partner and as you share my blood, you will quickly grow powerful. Rejoice."

With that, Yoru waved his free hand and sent the carcasses of the hatchling snakes into the ground using his manipulation over the earth. There were numerous hatcheries in the Ryuchi caves and even if there hadn't been, there were plenty of adult snakes for reproduction.

"Give me the contract." Yoru stated without even looking at the three Snake women behind him.

Ichikishimahime, Tagitsuhime, and Tagorihime felt wronged, however despite how irritated they felt, they still felt that invisible _presence_ emanating from Yoru pushing down on them.

Tagitsuhime snapped her fingers and in a _puff_ , a snakeskin scroll appeared in her hand. "Sign here with your blood and you'll have a contract with us."

With no hesitation, Yoru slit his wrist once more and signed his name in blood on the snakeskin parchment.

Suddenly, the letters glowed before on Yoru's arm, a summoning tattoo, in the shape of a snake coiling around his wrist, appeared and solidified on his skin. Yoru admired his new tattoo for a moment and thought about how at the age of 11, he already had 2 tattoos.

He wondered if he was a good influence on Mito…

After these thoughts flitted through Yoru's mind, he walked outside the hatchery, completely ignoring the three gusts of wind before he spoke out loud, seemingly to himself. "My work here is done. _Our_ presence is no longer required."

With that, the energy around him receded.

His scales disappeared.

His horns vanished.

His eyes returned to their silver coloring.

And his pupils became normal once more.

He then blinked. "Ah…"

 **{-Yoru: Gamer-}**

Thinking about what had just happened in the past few minutes caused me to be speechless. I knew that some forms of **Sage Transformation** could cause one to go _insane_ , but I had no idea it could cause someone to become so…

And since **Gamer's Mind** hadn't activated to block that personality, that meant I had been perfectly sane…

The thought caused my lips to twitch.

As for where I currently was…

Well, after I stopped using my **Sage Transformation {Mode}** , I immediately vanished from the area with **ID Create** and made my way towards Konoha. I had no idea how well my supposed newfound suppression effect on snakes worked without **Sage Mode** and I truly did not care to find out.

I knew that the Snake Sage apparently wasn't affected by my " _Majestic"_ aura or whatever and I also knew that Ichikishimahime, Tagitsuhime, and Tagorihime weren't quite happy with my… _other_ personality. It was probably for the beat that I left that place as soon as **Sage Mode** had worn off.

My newfound second personality wasn't one I wanted to bring out all that often…

In but a few moments, the view of the city gates appeared in my view and since I was still in my **ID** , I simply entered them. After going to and entering my apartment, I exited the **ID**.

Immediately after, I noticed something.

I frowned.

Through my **Energy Resonance** , I could sense a lot of high leveled chakra signatures…

 _Foreign_ chakra signatures.

Having lived in this place for many years and unintentionally memorizing all the shinobi chakra signatures in the village (courtesy of **Eidetic Memory** ), I could easily spot the new powerful chakra signatures as foreign entities.

Who were they?

And why were they here?

More importantly, what had I missed in these past 5 days?

Seeing as the village was intact, it didn't seem like a gigantic angry fox had come through and rampaged here. This either meant Kushina had given birth with no issues and my involvement and worries had been unfounded or, more likely given my luck, she hadn't given birth yet.

" _I suppose a visit to the Hokage is in order…"_ I thought before exiting my room and making my way to the Hokage Building where I could sense him.

And he wasn't alone.

With a couple of hops through the rooftops of Konoha's buildings, I made my way towards Minato and dropped down in front of the Hokage Office before making my way inside. Having already seen me numerous times, the guards readily allowed me inside.

I quickly made my way up some of the stairs before coming across the Secretary who was busy doing some work. She raised her head from her papers and glanced at me before breaking out in a smile "I'm assuming you are here to see the Hokage, however, he is in a highly important meeting right now Yoru. Though I would usually let you in, I don't think you want to be in there with them…"

Just as she said that the door to the office opened.

Out came a very short, older man with a triangular beard and a mustache that had angular corners, a big red nose, and thick eyebrows. The top of his head was starting to recede though he still had long graying hair on the lower-half of his head which was styled in a traditional chonmage haircut, the back of which was tied with a yellow ribbon into a topknot. Finally, the man wore a green and yellow coat with a red collar and was floating in the air as he exited the office.

I frowned.

I knew of him.

Like every Kage, his face was plastered in the bingo book.

" _The Third Tsuchikage."_

"Onoki." Minato stated from inside his office as he looked at the Tsuchikage. "I appreciate your offer, however, I alone am unable to guarantee anything without support from my shinobi council. I hope you understand."

"Of course." The man said as he floated up and down in the air. "I will be awaiting further discussion later tonight."

Minato nodded, a slight smile on his face before he glanced my way and blinked. "Yoru?"

Seeing this, the Tsuchikage also paid attention to my presence with a surprised look.

Then his emotions turned dark.

There was no visible change of expression on his face.

But I could feel it.

His negative emotions…

He did not like me.

I internally frowned, wondering why or how he would feel that way…

Wasn't I too adorable to be hated?

No, wait, more importantly…

"I'll take my leave." The Tsuchikage stated before looking at me with a calm smile. "But I have to say, your village's shinobi are quite something. So young yet I can sense so much potential within him."

Minato smiled. "You overpraise."

Onoki chuckled slightly before floating past me along with the two guards who had accompanied his side.

Time seemed to slow down as he brushed passed me and I could sense his emotions reaching their peak as he did…

Before they calmed down as he walked out the door.

I looked back to where he had disappeared to and narrowed my eyes.

He…was dangerous.

"Come in Yoru." Minato stated as he walked back into his office.

I nodded and followed him in before closing the door behind me and plopping a seat on one of the chairs.

"Orochimaru told me about your supposed vacation." Minato said with a raised brow. "How was it?"

"Productive." I answered. "I just needed some time for myself you know…"

He pointed at my left arm where the Levia was coiled and sleeping. "And you just happened to pick up an albino snake along the way?"

"…"

I decided it would be best to change the subject.

"What happened while I was gone? Coming in, I felt a lot of foreign chakra signatures so I was curious as to who they belonged to and why they were here?"

Minato blinked. "Ahh, right sensor…and perfect recall." He then explained. "After your successful mission, we were able to separate ourselves from Hiruko with his corpse as proof. As a result of that, a few days ago, we received a request from Earth country to foster more peace talks between our nations since the tensions had gotten so high from Hiruko's machinations. The Tsuchikage even volunteered to personally fly over here as a sign of goodwill as he would be in enemy territory."

"Iwa? Peace talks? With _Konoha_?" I asked somewhat skeptically. "Those words mix as well as oil and water."

Minato smiled ruefully. "I know, but it would be much better not to have to worry about them. Reducing the conflict between our nations would be best for us both."

I nodded in understanding. "We all lost a lot during that war. It only makes sense to keep them low."

With a nod in agreement, Minato continued. "Not too long after we got that message, we received an offer for a peace treaty from Kumo and they delegated their Head Shinobi along with an envoy to sign the treaty."

 _Thump_

I frowned.

 **Instinct** caused the hairs on my body to slightly raise.

It a premonition.

"…Something doesn't quite feel right here." I started, looking at my hands before looking at Minato. "Also, for some reason, the Third Tsuchikage's thoughts turned dark when he saw me. I have a feeling that their 'peace' talks aren't as innocent as they seem on the surface."

Minato looked me in the eye and nodded, "I already have both the Uchiha and Hyūga watch over their every move. I've had them keep track of any sort of interaction between the two. Besides that, my teacher and the other two Sannin are 'officially' out of the village while 'unofficially', they are on standby. Believe me, having both Kumo and Iwa inside my village is not something I take lightly."

I frowned as my **Instinct** persisted but I nodded my head nonetheless. Besides, because Minato had earlier decided to bring back all our on-duty shinobi, our village was much more secure than usual. With the Sannin here (unofficially) in addition to Hiruzen, the enemies wouldn't be able to make it out here alive if they tried something.

"Anyway, soon I'll have to entertain Kumo's delegates so we can pick up another time." Minato stated before adding as if he had just remembered. "Also, make sure you go see Mito and Kushina." Minato said with a smile. "Mito has missed you while Kushina has been irate the past few days you have been gone. The more time you waste, the more upset she'll become."

I sighed internally.

I idly stroked Levia.

" _This is going to be a pain."_

 **{-Yoru: Gamer-}**

"I'm pretty mad." Kushina offhandedly before her eyes narrowed as she stared at me. "What would you have done if you missed my baby's birthday? hah?! What were you thinking? disappearing on me for _5_ days like that?"

"I apologize if I caused you to worry, however, there were important things I needed to do." I replied simply, before looking her straight in the eyes. "Believe me when I say it was for you and your safety."

"You…" She paused and looked at me softly.

Suddenly, Kushina brought me in close, hugging me to her chest as she looked at me smilingly. She stroked my head. "Really, I hope my children grow up to be like you."

I didn't say a word as I let her continue rubbing my head.

It felt very comfortable.

And her chest felt nice…

"Though I do have to ask, where did you go and…" she paused for a moment. "Is that a snake around your arm?"

I let go of her and nodded. "Her name is Levia and I got her from **Ryuchi Cave**."

Kushina raised a brow, "That snake den? Why would you go there?"

"…Obviously to get a summon."

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me searchingly. "Oh? Is that all?"

"…"

She looked at me for a while longer before shaking her head, "As long as you don't get yourself into something you can't get out of…"

"I didn't." I said simply. "Believe me, it will be fine."

She seemed to want to say more but she simply sighed and leaned back into the couch.

Seeing this, I decided to figure out the descriptions of my new abilities, so I thought to myself.

" _ **Status."**_

 **[System Update: 0.2739767%]**

"…"

I blinked and tried again.

" _ **Status."**_

 **[System Update: 0.2739768%]**

"…"

Oh.

Well, that sucked.

" _Wait, does that mean…?"_ I turned my **Deconstructive Analysis** towards Kushina and tried to see if I could read her status…

Well, there was good news and bad news.

The bad news was that **Observing** her didn't give me some sort of status screen to look at.

The good news was that my eyes were still able to provide me with a good approximation of her strength even though I didn't have a display telling me all her stats and levels. This meant that I could still tell how much **STR** , **VIT** , **DEX** , etc. someone had, but I wouldn't get a precise number since my System was shut down…

"Hey Yoru." Kushina said with a lazy glance though I could sense a sternness to her gaze as she continued. "I was going to ask Kakashi but now that you are here, I figured I would ask you."

I looked up. "…What's up?"

"In a little bit, I would like you to go pick up your little sister from the academy." She requested before I felt some negative emotions emanating from her as she continued. "I don't want her walking around the village unattended…not with Kumo here."

And then I understood.

Kushina had no goodwill towards Kumogakure whatsoever, mainly due to her experience when she was just a genin and they had tried to kidnap her.

I nodded my head. "If they dare to harm a hair on her adorable head…I'll kill them."

She twitched a smile. "If you did that we'd have a much bigger problem in our hands. Just make sure she's safe."

"I will."

With that, she sighed contently and leaned back into the couch while closing her eyes. "I'm so tired…" she said softly before her breathing became lighter.

After using my eyes and magical touch for a few minutes (just to make sure she didn't wake up anytime soon), I stood up to leave. I could sense Kakashi guarding the outside of the house, so I didn't worry about Kushina too much.

Besides, you would have to be _pretty_ stupid to attack Minato Namikaze's home and wife.

With that, I thought for a moment and decided to head to the Academy and wait till Mito was done for the day. Before that, however, I placed my hand on Kushina's stomach and sensed the vigorous life force within her.

" _It's almost time…At any moment now she could give birth."_ I thought before retracting my hand and changing Kushina's resting position slightly before covering her with a blanket from my **inventory**.

With that, I headed outside.

I took a look at the bustling and excitement unfolding within the city. I could sense little to no more tension within the village folk as they walked around and continued on with their daily lives. With that, my feet carried me towards my destination.

To be honest, I'd always had a lot of doubts about Kushina's kidnapping within the village. How exactly were foreign shinobi able to get into the barriers of the strongest shinobi nation and kidnap such a high profile individual such as Kushina Uzumaki?

And it wasn't like those shinobi were all that powerful either as Minato, a low-Jonin Level shinobi at the time, had easily killed them and saved Kushina. Additionally, how did he even know she was kidnapped? What, was he stalking her that entire night?

The thing about the Minato finding her due to her hair may or may not have been true, but he had definitely been warned somehow. Of course, I didn't think he was a part of whatever conspiracy had been going on as he _had_ still just been a kid at the time. He had most likely just been a good chess piece to make things move along in the most favorable fashion.

I was betting my money Danzo had something to do with it. That guy would do just about anything and I meant _anything_ if it meant that Konoha would continue to reign supreme. Trying to keep an Uzumaki, the only clan of individuals who could safely accommodate the Ninetails, within the village walls was without a doubt something he would no doubt consider. That being said, I could respect his devotion.

I definitely could not understand it though.

I had never brought out my doubts for a few reasons. One, telling a married and loving couple, who already had a child together, that their relationship had been built on a conspiracy was probably just a tad bit insensitive. Two, by this time they most likely already figured something like that had happened. Kushina and Minato weren't idiots, but by this point in time, what was even the point of thinking about it? They already had one kid together with another one coming in along the way plus they were all gooey for each other.

Last but not least, I simply didn't really care all that much. Minato and Kushina loved each other ( **Empathy** doesn't lie) so why should I care how that came to be? Besides, I would rather not stick my head in something like this lest I get dragged down into a quagmire I wanted no part in. Konoha was a shinobi Village and had done much more immoral things in the past. They hadn't stayed on top by being kind and generous to others.

You would have to be a naive fool to believe otherwise.

With that long tirade of thoughts having completely run through my mind, I arrived at the Academy. I waited outside its gates with my back leaned against a tree before I furrowed my brows. My head turned and I scanned the area where I had felt the foreign chakra signature.

They were hidden by the dense passerby's that walked along the streets so I couldn't get a good view of them, but **Empathy** could tell that their intentions were anything but pure. His/Her gaze seemed to be focused on the academy as if they were waiting for something or _someone_.

Well, as long as they didn't do anything out of line, I was disinclined to act, so with that, I closed my eyes and waited as time passed. As the sun's position changed in the sky, the chakra signature never changed its position while the village people continued to excitedly move around and about.

Only after a few hours did I open my eyes and look to the direction of the academy. With my level of **stealth** , these kids wouldn't be able to notice me even if I stood right next to them, so I wouldn't have to worry about that embarrassing scene from the last time I had visited this place. The only way anyone would be able to find me would be if they were stronger and more experienced than me or if they were a decent sensor and I allowed them to sense my chakra.

Children poured out of the building, probably having finished learning the best way to stab someone through the throat…

" _Ahh, I remember those lessons from my teacher."_

"Yoru!" An adorable voice sounded out from the distance.

I lifted my head up and smiled at the girl as she came my way, most likely having sensed my chakra. Just before she reached me, she dove towards me so I quickly positioned myself and caught her.

I stroked her head. "How're you doing?"

"…5 days." She replied with her head buried in my stomach.

I tilted my head. "Hm?"

She looked up to me with a pout. "You didn't visit me for 5 days even though you weren't on a mission! That's terrible! I hate you!"

I opened my mouth but then decided not to tell her that I had been unconscious because I had decided to let a snake inject me with natural energy. Though I found her reaction amusing as she clearly didn't hate me which only meant she wanted something.

So, I asked, "What do you want my cute little sister?"

"I-" she paused, looking at my left arm for a moment before her eyes widened and sparkled. "Is that a baby snake!?"

I blinked, looking at my arm before idly stroking Levia. "Yeah, her name is Levia and she is a comrade of mine."

Her eyes glittering, Mito reached out her hand, "Can I hold her?"

Levia raised her head and glanced at Mito before turning her head towards me.

I nodded, "Why don't you keep her company for a little bit? She is my little sibling after all."

Levia blinked before slithering into Mito's grasp. She placed Levia around her neck and smiled as she stroked her scales. Then, she blinked as if remembering something and looked at me with a pout. "You have to carry me home!" She beamed with her arms raised.

I rolled my eyes and picked her up before putting her on my shoulders. "You're so spoiled."

"Hehe, Your the best big bro!"

" _And criminally adorable."_

With that, I began my trek back to Kushina's place with Mito playfully swinging her legs along the way while she played with Levia. We passed by the hustle and bustle of the crowd and took in the excitable atmosphere as we moved along.

And then, I stopped.

"Hm? Yoru?" Mito asked at my sudden halt.

I shook my head. "Nothing. If we ignore it, it might go away."

"Ignore what?" She asked cutely.

I frowned. "A pest."

"Hey, kid!" A male voice shouted from behind me, the sound of his footsteps quickly approaching.

I furrowed my brows and thought of simply teleporting back, but then Mito would probably make me carry her for the rest of the day…

I sighed and turned my head to face him with a bored expression. "What?"

He stopped and scratched the back of his head with a smile. "Ah, I'm sorry if I bothered you. I just couldn't help but notice how similar you look to my brother. I didn't think I'd see a native from Lightning Country that wasn't part of the delegation this far out."

I looked at the man noting his dark skin, white hair, and black eyes. More important than that, however, was the Kumogakure forehead protector he wore on his well… forehead.

"Is that so?" I asked rhetorically. "Well, I'm not from there and it looks like you were mistaken so I'll take my leave."

I then turned to walk away…

"Ahh Wait!" He yelled, waving at me. I turned my gaze to him before he continued. "I'm actually just a little bit lost and got separated from my group with all the people moving about. You wouldn't mind helping me would you?"

"…Yoru." Mito began before I could reply, tightening her grip around my neck. "I don't like his chakra."

The man froze.

"That's because his very existence is a plague on this earth." I replied looking at the man apathetically. "In essence…" I began, walking right up to him. "He's scum." I finished, shoving him away.

The expression on the man's face changed multiple times while his emotions were that of pure _rage_ and bloodlust.

I ignored him and continued on my way while the guy behind me followed me no longer.

Now, why was I such an ass to the guy who seemed to be a decent individual? For one, based on his chakra, I knew he had been the guy who had been watching the academy, so the thing about him getting separated from his group was horseshit. Next, **Empathy** told me enough about his disgusting emotions which made his whole "decent guy" persona a complete fabrication.

He had been following us ever since I had picked up Mito meaning that he had been aiming at _her_. Furthermore, this meant that he and by extension Kumo had not come here with any pure intentions whatsoever.

If that was the case…

" _I'll kill him…slowly."_

However, even if I told Minato this, he had already taken every possible precaution necessary. Very few people knew that all three Sannin were within the village walls since they tended to come and go as they pleased. In addition, Hiruzen was still here and Minato wasn't a pushover.

I would, however, let him know so that he could increase his vigilance. I wasn't sure if Iwa was playing this game, but seeing how confident that Kumo shinobi seemed to be that he dared to stalk _Mito_ at Konoha academy, I wouldn't be surprised if Iwa was another player.

That, however, made me think about what could give that guy so much assurance? Both Iwa and Kumo had brought some high-level shinobi from what I could sense, but they weren't anywhere near the level of strength necessary to start something here.

If they wanted to even try something, they would at least need to bring their Jinchuuriki, but I could sense that they weren't here either. Minato wasn't stupid and wouldn't let a nuke into his home if he didn't have the contro-

Wait.

Something suddenly came to me.

The Ninetails.

Wasn't there a chance that it would go free during Kushina's birth?

I mean, it wasn't an issue _now_ since I had a full proof plan in place to prevent it from escaping Kushina, but what if they were here waiting for such an opportunity…

The thought hit me like tsunami causing me to pause.

"Yoru? What's wrong?" Mito asked.

I shook my head and calmed down. "…nothing."

In the first place, Kushina's identity as the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki was _very_ well kept. Additionally, the fact that she had been pregnant had been extremely well hidden. As in, the moment she had showed visual signs of her pregnancy, she had been confined to the home while I had run around as her errand boy.

The point was that I was basically impossible for Kumo and Iwa to not only know that Kushina was the Ninetails' Jinchuuriki but to also know that she was pregnant and about to give birth. Even _if_ they knew that they wouldn't be able to access her while she was giving birth unless I personally allowed them into my **PD**.

And why the hell would I do that?

And to think that all I had to do was pick up Mito and go home. Why did I have to run into this mess?

" _Teacher is right. I always find myself in odd situations…"_

The finality of those thoughts coincided with my arrival back to the Uzumaki-Namikaze estate. I sighed and opened the door to the house with Mito on my shoulders.

"We're home." I said as I picked her up from my shoulders and placed her down.

She immediately hugged me. "Thank you."

I looked down at her and patted her head while in thought…

"I have something for you." I said as I looked down at her.

She raised her head up at me questioningly.

Seeing this, I opened the palm of my right hand and concentrated my **Wind** and **Water** -natured chakra before forming a chain of crystal blue ice. Each chain link was small and slowly interconnected with each other to form a necklace at the end of which contained an ice crystal in the shape of a diamond.

Next, lines of Fuuinjutsu script spread from my hands and covered the ice necklace. It was a complicated sealing matrix I had developed for Mito's protection. It combined the basic energy containment seal among other things to allow my manifested chakra borne ice to last a _very_ long time.

One done, the seals on the necklace turned invisible and I placed it around Mito's neck. "Now, I'll place a drop of your blood on it."

Before she could react, I poked her skin hard enough to draw a drop of blood and immediately healed it before she could feel anything. I then manipulated it with water and magnet release before dropping it on the necklace.

The blue ice crystal necklace turned red for a few moments during which Mito's eyes were staring in wonder at it. The necklace shrunk around her neck before perfectly fitting around it, making it impossible to remove by pulling it off her head. Afterward, the ref hue disappeared before the necklace slowly turned blue again.

"What is this? It looks so pretty!" She asked excitedly.

I smiled. "Think of it as your late birthday gift." I said while rubbing her head.

The concept of it was pretty simple: I had condensed almost all of my chakra into forming that necklace which functioned to produce a barrier that would repel foreign chakra signatures from approaching. Of course, she could consciously allow individuals to use their chakra on her such as medical ninja, but for the most part, it repelled all forms of ninjutsu from getting into contact with her. Granted, the barrier wasn't indestructible and a powerful enough attack could get through it. Additionally, it only blocked ninjutsu and not physical attacks so she would be susceptible to those.

The best part was that it could use Mito's chakra to replenish itself, hence why I had made it using the DNA from her hair.

Of course, I would explain its function to Minato and Kushina later on.

"Go upstairs and clean yourself off." I told Mito who was still fiddling with her necklace. She nodded absentmindedly and walked off, leaving me here in the corridor of the front door.

I watched her leave before I moved to the living room where Kushina was still resting soundly and sat down on an empty couch. I gazed at her sleeping form before looking up to the ceiling. " _I'm tired…"_

It was more of mental fatigue than anything else. All this worrying really wasn't good for anything.

Abruptly, the sound of the door _clicking_ and opening reached my ears.

"You're back early." I said to the individual who had just arrived.

He sighed. "Talking peace with Kumo was like kicking an iron sheet: Completely pointless." He said as he tossed his white haori (cloak) on an empty couch and plopped down on it.

"I caught one spying on the Academy presumably waiting on Mito." I stated offhandedly. "I doubt they really came here to foster peace between our nations."

Minato frowned then sighed. "Yeah, I figured that they were planning something when they were acting so obstinate."

I blinked. "Wait you knew? And you're still risking keeping them in the village?"

"I don't know what they are planning but I know that they aren't here for peace as they claimed." He said before continuing, "Regardless, I won't have a reason to kick them out unless they make a move."

I thought for a moment. "…This is a risky game. Letting your enemies move about within your home despite knowing they are up to something."

"Soon my wife will give birth." Minato stated looking at Kushina's sleeping form.

My expression changed. "You came to the same conclusion…"

"It would be too much of a coincidence otherwise." Minato explained. "If your intuition is on point and something would go wrong during her birth…"

I shook my head. "All of this is based off a vague nightmare I had. Besides, I promised you that the place I would be taking you would be _completely_ inaccessible to anyone other than me and people I allow."

"And I trust you." Minato stated.

"Thank you." I replied. "And besides, _too_ many assumptions are being made to center all of this around Kushina. It's more likely that they came here with some other plan in mind. We are also assuming that they are here to cause damage _during_ their stay. They could just as easily be scouting us and gathering intel before leaving."

"Wouldn't that be the most ideal scenario?" He replied with a sigh.

I looked at his exhausted frame for a moment before stating. "Honestly, you should just shatter all pretense and kick them out. At most, they'll be left with some sour feelings."

He didn't reply for a moment before explaining, "Regardless of why they are here, if they decide to act against us during their stay, we will legitimately be able to capture and interrogate them for any information they have. The fact that Kumo and Iwa _might_ be planning something against us and that they have the courage to come up here means that there is something much _much_ deeper going on. I won't rest assured until I figure out what."

I didn't say anything after that.

Near silence then reigned between us, the ticking of the clock being the only other audible sound.

Suddenly, I thought of something else. "By the way, if you've already finished discussing with Kumo and are now home, then who is talking with Iwagakure?"

"Ahh them?" Minato asked rhetorically. "The Third Hokage is meeting with Onoki as we speak, so if Iwa does try to do something…" his expression remained calm as his eyes narrowed slightly. "They won't come out alive."

 **{-Yoru: Gamer-}**

 _ **[A Few Hours Later: 3rd Person POV]**_

" _What are you playing at…Onoki."_ Hiruzen thought to himself as he sat down in a seiza position on the floor mat, his gaze lingering on the individual sitting across from him.

The Third Hokage was meeting with the Third Tsuchikage inside one of the buildings used to house high profile guests and the like. Both of their presences inside the living room created an imperceptibly dense atmosphere where the air felt heavier to everyone else aside from the two individuals sitting on the opposite ends of the table.

"You're aging quite well." Hiruzen stated, melting some of the tension from the frozen atmosphere.

Ōnoki, The Third Tsuchikage, chuckled. "You flatter me Sandaime but my back has been telling me otherwise." He flinched as he reached his arm to rub it. "It really hasn't been the same as time has passed by."

"Time is the enemy of every man." Hiruzen stated with a genial smile. "No matter who we've become or what we've accomplished, we'll all visit the Pure Land one day. The only thing we leave behind is our legacy."

"You're right." Onoki agreed with a nod. "It is our duty as Kage to ensure that the legacy of our continues on… regardless of the cost."

Hiruzen showed a smile that was not a smile, "And what cost would you be willing to take?"

"If it is to pass on the Will of Stone to my village's progeny, I would bid my life." Onoki answered seriously.

"I wholeheartedly agree." Hiruzen replied. "As long as I can pass down the torch of the Will of Fire, I will be able to die without regrets."

A round of silence ensued between the two Kage.

"Did you know?" Onoki suddenly began. "Eventually, a Fire will be extinguished, but a Stone can last indefinitely."

The air coagulated.

The shinobi besides their Kages tensed and prepared for the case where all pretense was shredded.

Hiruzen frowned at what was obviously a not-so-thinly veiled threat before he smiled, "But if a Fire burns hot enough, even a Stone will be melted to nothing more than a puddle."

"But even then it can always cool down and resolidify into the same Stone." Onoki countered. "Its structure may change, but it can be hammered into shape, removing its impurities and making it purer and more durable than before."

"Likewise…" Hiruzen began, "A Fire can always be relit as long as there is someone to carry the torch."

They stopped here and looked at each other with a smile, seemingly coming to some sort of understanding that no one else in the room was privy to.

"What can I help you with, Onoki?" Hiruzen asked, his face turning stoic.

The old Tsuchikage answered, "As you know, Iwagakure probably lost the most from our conflict: From our soldiers to some of our land, we've suffered the greatest casualties."

" _No doubt in part due to your own stubbornness."_ Hiruzen thought.

Instead, he said, "Certainly, in war, the measure of victory isn't by whether you win or not but by how little you lose compared to the opposition. I can understand the scope of your frustration."

"By your very own definition," Onoki began. "Konoha was the biggest winner of this entire event what with its newfound ability to revitalize its previously crippled soldiers. It really made it difficult for the rest of us to keep up with your continually replenishing forces. In addition, you've also managed to secure the 3-Tails, granted it apparently hadn't been your intention to do so."

Hiruzen barely let a smile slip on his lips, but he didn't say anything.

"What's worse…" Onoki began, "Is that we lost our Jinchuuriki but till this day we haven't found our bijuu. I was curious if you knew anything about that?"

Hiruzen blinked.

Now that he thought about it, it _was_ quite strange that Iwagakure hadn't found their bijuu by now. It wasn't like they took _that_ long to reform (at most about a year), so they should have found it by now. Actually, here exactly did Danzo say Yoru disappeared off to when he killed Roshi? Hiruzen was pretty sure that bit of information was never obtained…

If the 4-Tails truly hadn't appeared by now, then he was really curious as to where Yoru had killed off the 4-Tails Jinchuuriki. It wasn't like he had vanished into a different world or anything so the 4-Tails should have popped up…

"To be honest, I couldn't tell you." Hiruzen stated. "I myself am clueless as to what really happened during that mission."

"I see."

There was a short tense moment of silence before Onoki continued. "You know, I've heard you've got another prodigy in the making."

The Third raised a brow. "Konoha has been blessed with incredible shinobi over its years." He began. "We have many up and coming prodigies in the village."

Onoki sneered distastefully in his heart before elaborating. "This one is apparently of a different breed from what a little bird told me. He's _especially_ talented…"

"Oh?" Hiruzen replied with furrowed brows.

Onoki nodded with a careless smile. "He's such a genius in fact that he was apparently able to devise a method to improve upon the traditional **Mystic Palm Technique** …" Onoki stated, watching the changing expression of Hiruzen's face. "And allow it to regenerate lost limbs among other crippling physical afflictions."

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Yoru being found out was something he had expected, but not for a while longer. Many precautions had been taken to hide his identity (except for extenuating circumstances like that of Tsunade's student…He had grilled her for that) with Jiraiya having been used as a scapegoat for most of Yoru's accomplishments. The fact that his identity had been found was somewhat concerning, but not too much.

Nothing was full proof in the end.

"Yes well, as I said earlier." Hiruzen began, a false smile on his face. "We have many prodigies in my village. He's just one of many."

"You give him too little credit." Onoki stated with a light chuckle. "After all, he was able to kill the 4-Tailed Jinchuuriki."

Hiruzen's expression changed.

It was one thing to know _about_ Yoru, but it was another thing entirely to know _who_ Yoru was. From when he was 4 he had been trained more or less in secret before he joined Root where his identity became heavily secretive. There were only about 17 individuals in Konoha who knew how monstrous he was (one of whom was dead) while even fewer knew he had created **Mystical Healing**.

Additionally, Yoru kept to himself and didn't interact much with others and therefore he didn't have _any_ sort of reputation amongst the general populous. His existence wasn't renown in any way and no one outside of the individuals who had partaken in the mission (and of course Danzo and himself) against Roshi should have known that Yoru dealt the killing blow.

Yet somehow, Onoki had found out this information.

"Onoki." Hiruzen began, articulating the Third Tsuchikage's name slowly and gravely. "What is your purpose in coming here?"

The Tsuchikage sneered. "To confirm something told to me by a little tree and it seems like they were right. Konoha has been keeping something of Iwa's for some time now and I'm here to take it back."

Hiruzen frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Are you still going to pretend at this junction?" The Third Tsuchikage asked with a ridiculing smile visible on his visage. "The Four tails hasn't been seen since he had been killed by your shinobi _years_ ago. It is evident that you've kept it somewhere probably sealed away inside another host just like what you did with Kiri's Three-tails. I want it back."

"I'm afraid there is _nothing_ for us to give." Hiruzen stated succinctly. "We aren't in possession of the Four-tails so I would appreciate it if you ceased hurling such accusations at me and my village."

"…is that so?" Onoki said slowly before pausing and smiling.

Then, they _felt_ it.

An enormous chakra signature encompassed the village, suffocating everyone with its immense pressure.

A primal bestial roar reverberated throughout Konoha causing windows and glass to shatter throughout.

Hiruzen's expression and those of the Anbu beside him drastically changed.

"Oi, what's going on?"

"What is this…pressure?"

"This…!"

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes and stood up, his gaze boring into Onoki's calm visage. "Onoki! What have you wrought to my village?!"

The Tsuchikage expression remained unchanged. "I, unfortunately, cannot take credit for this, but I will tell you that things…eventually, come full circle."

 **{-Yoru: Gamer-}**

 _ **[30 Minutes Prior: Yoru's POV]**_

We were sitting around the living room with food in hand while Mito played with the necklace I had given her with sparkly eyes. Kushina had woken up some time ago and not too long after, she had complained about being hungry so I decided to cook something up for the house.

Now, we were all enjoying the fruits of my labor.

"Yoru. Minato." Kushina called to us as she sat down peacefully on the couch.

The Fourth Hokage and I exchanged glances before looking back at Kushina questioningly.

She strained a smile. "My water broke."

Pin

Drop

Silence

The chopsticks that had been halfway to Minato's mouth dropped and clanged against his plate.

I abruptly swallowed the food that had already been in my mouth.

Mito stopped playing with her necklace for a moment and looked at us before shrugging and continuing on with her thing.

Levia raised her head as she lay around Mito's shoulder before she went back to lay down and closed her eyes.

"Yoru."

"I know."

With that, I promptly dislodged myself from the chair and with my **Inventory** , I quickly put on my Anbu gear.

As Minato went over to Kushina, I quickly arrived beside them and placed my hands on their shoulders.

Minato looked at me and nodded.

I nodded back.

With a thought, I took them into my **PD** and they disappeared. Next, I looked at Mito, noting that she seemed curious as to where her parents disappeared off to.

I smiled, "Don't worry about them and stay here with Levia. Kakashi is also outside if you need anything."

She blinked her adorable blue eyes before nodding and continuing to play with her necklace.

Seeing that, I went outside the house and looked up at the roof of the residence before saying, "Kakashi, watch over Mito for me."

"…Sure."

"I knew I could count on you."

"…"

Immediately after that, I dashed across the village to Hiruzen's home where I could sense his wife, Biwako. Simultaneously, I summoned a clone in order for it to gather the reserve Anbu forces Minato had set up to guard the original place Kushina was to give birth in.

In very little time, I arrived in front of the Sarutobi Household and walked up to the door before knocking on the door.

The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps registered in my ears before the door opened.

"Who is it-" the boy who had opened the door, Asuma Sarutobi, stared at me before his eyes looked at me in confusion. "Anbu? Why are you here?"

"Something of importance has come up and your mother's presence is required. Allow me to see her so that I can take her to where we need to go."

He blinked and nodded before letting me through. I nodded and entered the house before dashing towards where I could sense her chakra signature. Soon after I appeared in front of what appeared to be the living room area of the Sarutobi household.

"Lady Biwako, your presence is required." I stated to the lady in front of me. She was peacefully sitting down in a seiza while drinking what smelled like tea. Next to her was a woman with shoulder-length brown hair and eyes whose power I could detect placed her at Anbu level.

"It's already that time?" Biwako asked seriously.

I nodded.

"Mom! where are you going?!" Asuma yelled from behind me.

She smiled at him. "I'm just going to do my work." Then she turned to the lady next to her. "Taji, let's go."

"Yes, Sensei." The woman stated before in a _puff_ , she donned the standard medical outfit, which consisted of a high-collared White outfit with a poufy hat.

"I can take you there immediately." I stated as I extended my hands. "Grab on."

They did so without hesitation.

And with a thought, they disappeared into my **PD** as well.

" _Now, they should be absolutely safe."_ I thought before I quickly pinpointed the area where I had kept one of my **Amenotokotachi** seal tags. Since Minato had allowed me to be a part of the Anbu responsible for guarding the area around where Kushina would give birth, I had placed some markers around that area on the rocks there.

"Here we go."

 **Amenotokotachi!**

Immediately, I appeared outside the barrier where Kushina would have normally given birth. It was located on the outskirts of the village on the side of a mountain wall where a hole was carved out. There was a wooden bridge running parallel to the ground a few meters up, going across the face of the mountain. Below my feet was a stream of water while all around me were some trees and vegetation.

I hopped up from the stream and simply sat in wait on the edge of the torii, a traditional and _large_ wooden red gate.

Soon, friendly chakra signatures appeared in my radar and rapidly approached this area and before long, I could visually see them approaching. They appeared below me in rapid succession to which I nodded to them and they nodded back before taking their positions guarding around the area.

There were 24 Anbu here (including me) which was a much greater number than the 4 that had originally been planned to guard the barrier.

With this, there was nothing more to do than wait.

And wait some more…

I wondered how Kushina was doing…

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

"Ahh! It hurts ya know!" Kushina screamed in agony

Minato lightly sweated in distress. "Hang in there dear! You got through this once and you can do it again!"

"You're not the one that has to go through-AHHH!"

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

I'm sure she was having a blast.

I kept my eyes peeled for any other abnormalities.

This was the perfect time for someone to try and interrupt Minato as he focused on keeping the seal in check. I scanned any corner and used my second brain, courtesy of **Parallel Processes** , to focus on my **Empathy** and **Energy Resonance** skills.

Suddenly, a _chill_ ran up my spine.

I frowned and hurriedly tried to hone in on my senses, but I came up empty.

Were my nerves getting to me?

After all, everything had been quiet so far…The only other thing audible was the rustling of the leaves from the trees surrounding us due to the wind.

Nothing bad was happening…

No one was attacking us…

It was peaceful.

 _Too_ peaceful…

A _chill_ , one much greater than the last, coursed through my body and sent me on high alert as I abruptly stood up.

"What's up?" One of the Anbu below asked me.

My gaze narrowed as I looked towards the direction of the village.

Another _chill_.

I tightened my jaw.

Something was coming.

Something…frightening.

And then, I _felt_ it.

A _horrifying_ pressure descended upon us, one that seemed to almost physically push me down. I could feel the bloodlust contained within the pressure despite the fact that it originated from the village which was some distance away from this hideout.

I And then, I _heard_ it.

A tremendously powerful roar reverberated from the village, it emergence causing a slight surge of wind to blow in this direction. It was filled with power, malice, and contempt for everything.

How…!?

The Ninetails was still more or less safely managed within Kushina and it was basically _impossible_ to get to her now. What else could warrant such a terrifying pres-

And then, I _saw_ it.

My eyes widened.

A gigantic red beast stood fully erect in the distance, its fists banging its chest as it roared out;

Its 4 thick tails slamming everything and everyone around it indiscriminately;

its eyes were red with madness.

I knew what it was.

And _who_ it was.

It was Son Goku, the Four-Tailed, Tailed Beast.

* * *

 **Author's Note: The simplest description for Yoru's Sage Mode is to imagine Mitsuki's Sage Mode (google an image of it) and imagine Yoru has a white aura instead of green. There's more to it than that but that's the general gist of it.**

 **setokayba2n: Some worlds I had in mind for Yoru to visit were: Fairy Tail, Highschool DxD, possibly Bleach, Pokemon, Original Naruto world, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (plus maybe other marvel cameos), _maybe_ One Piece, and possibly a couple more (The worlds visited may or may not be in that particular order).**

 **Redery: For Yoru not being able to sense Obito, I think I already explained that Obito's chakra signature changed due to Hashirama's cells so Yoru wouldn't have been able to recognize Obito from his chakra signature regardless of how good of a sensor he was. His _Empathy_ skill _only_ detects emotions, It doesn't give the _identity_ of the person with the emotions. Finally, Yoru's _Observe_ / _Deconstructive Analysis_ skills have never given him the name of a person he didn't already know the name of. Since he did not know who the masked man was, using those skills would not have given him a name.**


	25. Chapter 25

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction? alot)

* * *

 **Chapter 25**

Many thoughts filtered through my mind at this very moment.

How?

How did the 4-tails get into the village? I should have been able to sense its signature if it had been inside a host, so how was it able to evade my **Energy Resonance** and appear out of nowhere?

Who?

There was no way the _4-Tails_ could sneak into my village undetected. Therefore, someone must have facilitated its intrusion into Konoha's borders but then that brought the question back to how? How did they get into the village and how did hey get ahold of Son?

Why?

Why was Son even _here_? He had not wasted any time in trying to disappear off the grid after having fulfilled his end of the bargain with me. No one else knew of his involvement except Kakashi and I and even then, we had no idea where he had even disappeared off to. How did he get found? Who found him? _Why_ did they bring the 4-tails here?

Iwa didn't have this skill and neither did Kumo, but there was no doubt that they were playing a part in this game.

I suddenly narrowed my eyes as I felt one of my **Amenotokotachi** markers move position. Earlier when I had made contact with the stalker Kumo Ninja, I had made sure to implant my **Amenotokotachi** seal on his person. I had been planning on either killing him when he left the village or torturing him for information on why he had been targeting Mito, but it now served a much more important function.

The Kumo shinobi were no doubt taking advantage of the chaos and were moving towards…

 _Rage_ bubbled up within me before it was replaced by a cold seething disdain.

They actually _dared_ to go after Mito?

I would _slowly_ inquire him for information, however, I wasn't too worried now.

Kakashi was still guarding the residence and I was confident enough that he would be able to escape with Mito and hold his own once he sensed them coming. If not, I already had contingencies in place.

This was no coincidence.

Someone had figured out that Kushina had gone into labor and that the Fourth Hokage wasn't around. They had perfectly timed the release of Son Goku within the village. The question was how did they find out about it? Kushina had gone to labor only 10 minutes or so ago. It was nearly impossible for anyone to figure out that the Hokage was occupied unless they had been _right_ there when her water had broke which was equally as impossible because I would have been able to sense-

My body suddenly shuddered, abruptly ending my thoughts.

I looked all around me as I narrowed my eyes, yet I couldn't understand what had just sent my **Instinct** on high alert…aside from the rampaging ape of course.

" **!"**

I abruptly stood up and rapidly looked every which way as I tensed.

I didn't know what but…

Something was coming.

"Go help stabilize the situation there." I said to the Anbu, as I began to calm myself.

They paused at that before one of them spoke up, "But we were ordered to guard here."

I shook my head, "Trust me, your presence would be much more appreciated over there. I'll stay here and handle any situation that is to come."

They still seemed troubled "Even if you say that…"

A beastly roar reverberated throughout Konoha as Son began swinging his tails, destruction following in his wake.

I raised a brow, "Are you really not going to go? Besides, I'm technically in charge, so you have to go anyway."

They all looked at each other, deliberating on what to do at that moment.

Then, they nodded at me, having come to a decision. With that, they all vanished in a burst of speed, leaving me here to guard the area.

With that, I sat down and carefully paid attention to my surroundings with a serious gaze. I couldn't understand why my **Instinct** was acting up as I couldn't sense anything-

" **!"**

I didn't bother to understand who or what was about to attack me.

I simply _moved_.

I launched my body off of the Torii Gate I had been on and no sooner did something from the above _crash_ into and destroy it with devastating force. As I traveled through the air, I turned my body to see what had tried to attack me.

And it was then I realized.

It wasn't ' _what_ ' had tried to attack me.

It was _who_.

I immediately flipped and landed on the ground before quickly observing the intruder. He was an individual with an average height who wore a purple lined black hooded cloak and a yellow mask with a black flame-like pattern, a single eye hole visible on it.

He looked at me.

And moved.

My eye sharpened as he suddenly appeared in front of me, his fist poised to strike. He was so fast that I was unable to react before I was struck in the face, my cheek rippling from the impact and my body sent flying away. I tumbled and bounced across the ground while my body demolished the trees in its path until all my kinetic energy was used up as I slid to a stop.

As the dust settled, I opened my eye and spit out the blood from my mouth before wiping my lips. I groggily stood up and couldn't help the chill that pervaded my spine.

I hadn't sensed that individual when he had first arrived.

That should have been _impossible_.

As long as you were alive and in front of me, I could sense you.

That's what had always happened.

Yet, not only had I not sensed him, I hadn't been able to sense his emotions.

It was like he was a ghost.

Like he didn't exist.

It was only when he had struck me for that brief moment that I had sensed his chakra.

And I recalled it.

I felt a familiar chakra signature.

It was the same _bizarre_ signature I had felt over a year ago.

The same one that had been there when Rin had died.

My body tense and **Instinct** telling me to go the other way, my eyes glowed as I scanned his strength.

I tensed.

He was strong.

" **!"**

I ducked, my head narrowly avoiding the fist that suddenly passed over my head. I jumped forward with a quick tuck and roll before I slid to a stop and steadied my breath.

" _And he is very fast."_ I thought, in trepidation.

This enemy was powerful.

He had unknown skills.

Unknown motives-

My pupils shrank and I hurriedly crossed my arms in front of my chest before a devastating kick shattered my arms. I coughed out blood as my body was sent rocketing backward before I felt my back brutally impact the face of the mountain, a crater forming and enlarging immensely in response.

Then, I felt a hand around my neck before it squeezed _hard_ and while I didn't need air to breathe, the feeling of my neck getting crushed wasn't pleasant.

It was apparent to me that I couldn't win with my base strength.

In that case.

 **Sage Transformation {Mode}!**

 _ **[3rd Person POV]**_

Yoru's body began to transform.

Pristine white reptilian scales appeared on portions of his body, covering the outer edges of his face and extending down from the side of his neck to the sides and back of his arms, upper body, and lower body. His eyes changed color, turning golden from their original silver coloring. His pupils transformed, becoming narrowed and slit…

Like a snake's

Two pristine horns grew from either side of his head.

His hair became fiery white as it radiated energy.

A brilliant cloak of pure white energy covered his body, the winds churning in response. The rocks behind Yoru cracked while portions of his white chakra shroud formed into ethereal snakes that moved and coiled around his body.

The entire transformation took mere moments.

Then…

He opened his eyes, his pupils constricting.

"Unhand me, _scum_."

The 9 white energy borne snakes all opened their mouths as energy coalesced within before they fired devastating beams of energy at the Masked Man. The entire process happened so quickly and at point blank range, the Masked Man was unable to react in time. He was blasted away into the distance and crashed into the forest and traveled to the distance, leaving a trail of dirt, debris, and splinters as his body leveled the obstacles in its path.

Yoru dusted himself off before he snapped his fingers. Numerous dense particles of magnetic metals emerged from the ground before they coalesced to form a large metallic throne. Yoru sat down and crossed his legs before he rested his arm on the armrest of the metal throne. He leaned his cheek onto the back of his palm and utilized his **Magnet Release** to levitate his throne in the air. He flew forward in a vertical motion, his gaze impassive, as he followed the path of bare dirt and destruction.

As he could not sense the intruder's chakra, Yoru used his other senses in order to pinpoint his enemy.

The enemy was-

" **!"**

It barely qualified as 'danger' to Yoru as he turned to face the sudden attack from above. Seeing the enemy using the same tactic twice, Yoru kept his expression stoic. He spun his throne of metal around towards the intruder and immediately expelled an _immense_ amount of **Majestic Destroyer Flames** which engulfed the enemy…

" _Hoh…?"_

Yoru thought as an arm shot out from the blast of fire and reached towards his face. Just as Yoru thought it would touch him…

The arm phased through his face.

Yoru easily understood that the enemy was trying to ensnare him with the chain he held between his hands, yet his expression remained unchanged.

" _Useless."_

 **Magnet Release.**

By his will, just as the chain was about to wrap around him, it stopped.

Yoru waved his hand.

The chain and its owner flew into the distance with immense speeds as Yoru brought them further away from the birth chamber. He continued his flight on his metallic throne and followed after the Masked Man.

Said individual, however, immediately righted himself in midair and flipped before dragging his feet on the ground and coming to a halt. The Masked Man then stood up and watched the approaching Yoru before dusting himself off. In a swirl of distorted space, the chain between the Masked Man's hands disappeared.

Yoru looked down at him from above and outstretched his free hand before manipulating the natural energy in the atmosphere and saturating the ground with it. In sage mode, he could instinctually infuse inanimate objects with natural energy and give them "life" making them much easier to manipulate.

"Let's see how well you can dance."

With those words, he spread his fingers.

Immediately after, the ground began to squiggle and squirm as if they were made of liquidated rubber. Numerous large snakelike forms began to materialize from the earth before launching themselves at the Masked Man.

The Masked Man crouched low before launching himself off the ground right before the wriggling snake-like pieces of earth impacted the area he had previously been in. He dodged and weaved through the serpentine appendages of the earth that continually sought to ensnare him while his feet rapidly traversed across the ground.

His eyes half-lidded in apathy, Yoru twitched his fingers.

Suddenly, the ground beneath the Masked Man caved in causing him to sink beneath as if he was standing on an elastic ball. Yoru then pinched all five of his fingers together, causing the ground to close up above the Masked Man in response-

A spike of wood erupted from beneath the ground where the Masked Man was buried.

Yoru's slitted pupils gleamed.

Then another spike of wood emerged from the earth.

And another-

Abruptly, gigantic squirming tree roots erupted from the ground all around the area the Masked Man had been sealed in. He then emerged from the dirt and slapped his hands on the ground.

The entire area, a kilometer around, trembled as large thick tree roots sprung up from the earth before launching themselves towards Yoru in the sky. His gaze indifferent, Yoru mentally commanded his throne of metal to zoom through the air in evasive maneuvers.

The tree roots pierced through the air as they inched closer towards Yoru who remained sitting cross-legged on his throne with an impassive gaze. With a thought, the metallic throne suddenly tilted to the left, narrowly dodging the tree root from behind that grazed it.

Feeling the numerous tree roots coming from below, Yoru tilted his throne backward 180 degrees. The tree roots skimmed past the back of his throne while Yoru remained sitting on it upside down. He then turned his gaze towards where the Masked Man was in the distance.

Suddenly, shadows covered his form as numerous tree roots appeared and moved to encapsulate him in mid-air. They blanketed and overarched him from above while his cardinal directions were sealed.

There was nowhere to run as more branches appeared from below in order to ensnare Yoru in a cocoon of wood.

Yet, he still remained phlegmatic.

 **Sage Art-**

The roots had already almost completely surrounded him, the only part of his body still exposed to the moonlight being his gleaming golden eyes.

 **Storm Style-**

Large amounts of energy began to gather in the mouths of the ethereal snakes born from Yoru's white chakra shroud.

Just as the last ray of moonlight was to be snatched away from his eyes…

His slit pupils constricted.

 **Light Fang!**

Immensely powerful beams of light were launched from the snakes' mouths in every which direction, slicing through the tree branches and shearing a small mountain in the distance. The heat from the attack caused the sliced up portions of wood to glow red and smoke up while the mountain peak slowly slid off.

Yoru looked past the splintering debris and settled his gaze on the Masked Man in the distance who was rapidly going through handseals.

 **Snake → Ram → Hare → Dog → Snake**

As soon as the last seal was complete, the Masked Man's chakra suddenly flared immensely as the ground began to tremble. A beastly roar was heard from beneath the surface of the earth before a serpentine dragon made of wood burst out from the ground and emitted a booming howl. Its eyes locked onto Yoru's before it exclaimed once more, the shockwaves from its effort tearing apart all the obstacles in front of it.

Yoru's lips downturned slightly. He pointed his free hand's index finger at the beast and gathered energy on its tip.

 **Sage Art: Scorch Style-**

A miniature white sun began to form and enlarge on the tip of Yoru's finger. An immense amount of heat radiated from the white ball of energy, the air distorting and the moisture in the atmosphere evaporating near instantly.

Yoru looked at the aggressive approach of the wood dragon in displeasure. "The First Hokage's iteration of this technique would have been much more majestic than your imitation."

He continued in distaste.

"You _faker_."

 **Noble Sun!**

The orb of energy was launched from Yoru's fingertip and brutally clashed with the charging wood dragon, instantly pushing it back. The wood construct roared in distress as it flew away, its body's moisture being sucked away while smoke emerged all over its form.

The Masked Man's eyes widened underneath his mask before he rapidly flipped through handseals and drained his chakra. In response to his efforts, two more wood dragon constructs erupted from the earth and assisted the first one in pushing back the twenty-five-meter diameter white sun. Roaring in defiance, they charged ahead and clashed against the ball while simultaneously making an effort to absorb its energy.

Their resulting efforts caused the large ball of energy to get pushed back towards Yoru while its energy was siphoned by the wood constructs.

Their howls reverberated throughout the battlefield.

Yoru looked on blandly.

He pinched all five of his free hand's fingers together.

Suddenly, the gigantic white ball of energy imploded.

Then, a pause.

Yoru's slitted pupils constricted. " **Supernova.** "

It erupted.

 _Violently_.

In a dreadful and powerful burst, the star exploded in a dome-shaped blast of heat and energy. The dragons were easily blasted away and vaporized as they gave unwilling roars in response. The earth and trees in the path of the blastwave vanished while the blast radius of the detonation spread for kilometers on end.

A shockwave from the discharge leveled small hills and trees further in the distance.

Yoru sat stably in the air while the wind from the explosion rustled his hair. He turned his half-lidded gaze down towards the destruction below and witnessed the gigantic five-kilometer wide crater his sun's detonation had hollowed. Whatever parts of the ground that hadn't been vaporized from the heat now glowed an unholy red as lava flowed across the land.

Yoru's gleaming golden eyes scanned the terrain before his slitted pupils contracted as they focused in on a specific domain. With a thought, his metallic throne bolted towards the ground below before it immediately halted right above the lava. With another mental command, the Yoru blitzed across the lake of lava at immense speeds while sitting crossed leg on his chair.

It then abruptly halted.

Looking down at the hunched over form of the Masked Man, Yoru dissipated his throne, the particles of metal that made it up vanishing to his **inventory**.

He would use it to make another throne next time.

With that, Yoru used his chakra to keep himself afloat on the lava and regarded the Masked Man with a tilt of his head. "You are truly impetuous…to come into my territory with such a paltry level of power."

The Masked Man looked up at Yoru.

And blurred.

Yoru promptly tilted his head to the side causing the slash attack from the Masked Man to miss its mark. The assailant then twirled his kunai and poised its blade to strike downward before jabbing it at Yoru.

The only result was the _ding_ sound of metal clashing against metal as Yoru augmented his neck with **Steel Release**. At speeds the Masked Man was unable to react to, Yoru shot out his hand and grabbed the man's wrist.

Before crushing it.

The Masked Man grunted and quickly phased his arm through Yoru's own. In a rapid motion, he twisted his body and spun a kick towards Yoru's head.

Yoru remained impassive as the blow phased through his skull before he immediately outstretched his left hand and caught the Masked Man's leg. At that very instant, the Masked Man flipped through handseals in rapid succession and expelled a giant ball of fire at Yoru at point blank range.

Yoru merely outstretched his right hand before the attack impacted it. Utilizing his **Dark Release** , Yoru absorbed the energy from the fireball-

 **"!"**

An attack brutally impacted Yoru's chin from below causing his body to launch upwards. It was only thanks to his instinctual use of **Steel Release** that the spike of wood that had tried to pierce through his skull failed to do so.

With a simply backflip, Yoru landed and splashed a bit of the lava flowing beneath the soles of his feet.

The Masked Man was suddenly upon him.

Yoru weaved left to dodge the punch that had been aimed at his face before he clenched his fist and rammed it into the Masked Man's abdomen causing it to sink deep within. The Masked Man coughed while his body was forced to slide backward across the lava.

In a mere moment he righted himself up and dashed towards Yoru before he struck out once more.

Using the back of his palm, Yoru deflected the attack.

The Masked Man immediately followed up with a spin kick towards Yoru's face.

Yoru tilted his head back, the wind from the attack causing his hair to flutter slightly. He then righted himself back up before pounding his fist on the Masked Man's exposed side causing a _crack_ to sound.

The Masked Man groaned in protest, however, he pushed past the pain and ensnared Yoru's arm in his own before space began to spin and distort from his eye…

Yoru's eyes gleamed.

" _ **ID Create: Empty**_ _."_

He vanished.

The Masked Man looked every which way in trepidation before he felt a brutal impact on his back, his spine creaking in protest. His body skipped and bounced across the lava before he slid to a stop.

Just as he was able to get himself back up on his legs, his chin was brutally impacted by Yoru's knee causing his head to snap back harshly and his body to lift off the ground. Yoru didn't allow him to get far, however, as he grabbed the Masked Man's leg as he was in the air and slammed him down onto the lake of lava below. The vicious impact caused tidal waves of lava to ripple and spread to the distance.

"What's wrong?" Yoru asked uncaringly. "You're not using your phasing…it's almost as if you've given up." He said before his pupils abruptly constricted.

Yoru promptly leaped back as two miniature wood dragons erupted from the lava and chased after him.

The Masked Man utilized that instant to activate his space-time technique, space distorting in a spiral manner in response-

He was instantly forced to halt as a white sun appeared to the side of him and slammed into his body. He groaned in anguish from the heat and power of the attack before he was explosively launched into the distance.

He landed unceremoniously on the ground and looked up to see the ashy remains of his wood constructs dissipating in the wind.

Yoru then pointed his index finger in the air.

"Since you were so eager to intrude upon my domain…"

 **Sage Art: Scorch Style-**

A _gargantuan_ pure white ball in the shape and likeness of a sun formed on the tip of Yoru's finger and enlarged to immense proportions.

"You can rest here _eternally_."

 **Noble Sun!**

Yoru launched the attack.

It was as if time had slowed as the Masked Man watched the huge white sun approach him.

Before he was engulfed.

Yoru pinched his fingers together, his gaze passionless.

 **Supernova!**

The giant ball of white heat and energy shrank unto itself…

Then, it burst.

And then the world was filled with white.

…

…

…

Yoru emerged from the devastation unharmed before he looked around and noted that the surroundings were even more devastated than before. With that, he made his way towards where the corpse of his assailant was and in a few steps, he arrived in front of the body. He looked down at it with his gaze ever apathetic, recognizing that it was burnt beyond all recognition.

He stared at it for a few more moments and spread out his senses. After sensing no other chakra signatures or emotional signatures in the immediate surroundings, Yoru turned away. "My presence is no longer required."

With that, his transformation regressed as his scales and horns disappeared while his eyes returned to their normal silver hue. Yoru looked back down at the corpse, realizing that he would probably never know who he was or why the enemy had attacked.

He then turned his gaze to the distance and looked at the rampaging four-tailed gorilla before he narrowed his eyes. Son was still moving in a frenzy, indiscriminately attacking and destroying everything in sight. If Yoru was right and the person he had killed had been controlling the tailed beast somehow then Son should have at the very least calmed down by now. Taking a closer look, Yoru then noticed something that caused his heart to palpitate.

He hadn't noticed it earlier because he hadn't paid as close attention since the monkey's eyes had always been red. It was only now that he was carefully observing Son Goku that Yoru realized that Son's red eyes contained a pattern he was very familiar with.

Three Tomoe patterned around the pupil.

" _An Uchiha is responsible? But where did they even find him and how can they control a tailed beast?"_

Numerous questions and thoughts flitted through Yoru's mind as pieces of information began to interconnect like pieces of a puzzle.

 _The sharingan…_

 _The Masked Man's despair…_

 _Kakashi's chakra mutation…_

 _Itachi's chakra mutation…_

 _An evolved sharingan…_

Yoru's eyes widened as a picture began to form from the information he went through in his mind, however, he immediately abandoned that thought. If the Masked Man _was_ who Yoru thought he might have been and had somehow gotten control of Son, then the gorilla wouldn't still be ramping since the Masked Man was now dead. For now, he could sit down and recover his chakra before going out there to help with the situation-

 **"!"**

It came much to suddenly and unexpectedly.

An arm tore through Yoru's chest, penetrating his heart and exiting his back. His eyes wide, Yoru watched as his heart was brutally torn out of his body.

"You cost me an eye." The Masked Man said from behind him.

Yoru coughed out blood and shakily turned his head to see the "corpse" of his enemy dissipate like smoke.

Just as he tried to gather natural energy, five miniature wood dragon constructs erupted from the ground around him and assaulted him ruthlessly. Two tore into his legs with their teeth, another two brutalized his arms, and the last one crushed his neck.

Yoru could neither move, speak, nor groan as his chakra was siphoned from the wood constructs. His low and draining chakra reserves prevented him from forming senjutsu chakra.

Then, a pause.

Like his chakra, the light in Yoru's eyes began to fade…

Until he was left with nothing.

The wood constructs soon stopped before regressing underground.

Yoru's body then dropped to the ground and remained motionless while his eyes became dull.

Blood pooled from the hole in his chest.

The Masked Man looked down at Yoru's body before he turned away and looked towards the distance at the place where Kushina should have been giving birth by now. His fight with Yoru had caused them to move far away from his target area so the Masked Man spared Yoru's corpse one more glance before quickly making his way towards the barrier. He immediately entered it and dashed deeper into the cave, his sharingan scanning the area for any chakra signatures.

Then he paused.

" _Where are they?"_ He thought as he turned his head every which way, yet he could not find any trail of the Fourth Hokage and his wife.

How?

Forgetting the fact that he knew that Kushina should be giving birth by now, this room was not only the place where she should have been doing so, but it was small. That being the case, he should have easily come across them.

But they weren't here.

" _Why?!"_

The Masked Man continued to look around fruitlessly.

But it was no use.

" _My intelligence from Zetsu can't be wrong. They should have come here after she went into labor…"_

"I take it you haven't found what you were looking for."

The Masked Man widened his eyes and turned his head to see Yoru standing there with his hands clasped behind his back.

His expression was limpid.

The white aura circulating around him gave off a feeling of immense pressure.

His ethereal snakes hissed in displeasure towards the Masked Man.

" _What is going on?"_ The Masked Man thought as he turned around to face his opposition. " _I_ literally _ripped his heart out…how can he still survive and still have so much power after that?"_ He thought as he saw the wound on Yoru's chest rapidly close.

This was some Grade A bullshit.

It was right up there with Hashirama's cells.

His mask hid his incredulity as he asked, "Where are they?"

Yoru disdained to answer.

He simply said. "Rejoice. You can again die by my hand."

It was a simple statement.

No, an Edict of truth.

Yoru took a simple step forward.

 **Mud Release: Landslide!**

His chakra flowed through the ground and into the walls of earth surrounding them before it trembled.

The Masked Man's eye widened a minuscule amount as the entire room collapsed into mud and created a landslide that rushed towards him. At the moment the enemy was preoccupied, Yoru pulled out a kunai and tossed it high into the air.

The Masked Man hurriedly jumped back from the landslide, however, the moment his feet touched the ground, an iron spear penetrated his foot. He grunted in pain at the assault.

In that very instant, Yoru appeared right in front of the Masked Man, his sudden emergence allowing little time for the enemy to react. His **Rasengan** was launched forward at immense velocities, aimed straight at the man's face with no remorse.

It phased through.

" _The outcome will always be the same."_ The Masked Man thought as Yoru's body fully passed through his own. He reached out his hand to grab ahold of Yoru, intent on simply banishing him to his **Kamui Dimension** for all the trouble he was worth.

However.

The Instant his fingertips so much as touched Yoru…

 _At that very moment, the kunai Yoru had launched earlier appeared right behind the Masked Man._

 **Amenotokotachi!**

A high pitched sound of swirling energy was heard as a **Rasengan** launched itself into the man's unsuspecting back.

And hit.

 _Hard_.

" _Shit!"_ The Masked Man thought as his back was shredded apart from the sudden unforeseeable attack. Yoru's speed and reactivity were much greater than he had anticipated or ever experienced.

An explosion sounded out as the Masked Man's body cratered the ground beneath him, cracks spreading through and caving in the earth. His form sunk deeper within the earth as the residual energy from the **Rasengan** blew up the interior of the cave in its entirety causing the entire mountain to completely break down and crumble.

His hand still on his enemy's back, Yoru charged his next attack, sparks of lightning flying from his hand,

 **Lightning Style-**

But just as he was about to release it, the Masked Man phased underground.

Yoru furrowed his brows and reabsorbed the energy from the attack before he stood up and turned around. There he saw the Masked Man from earlier was standing on the complete opposite end of the crater, his robe completely torn and his mask fractured.

Yoru looked at him in slight interest. "You shouldn't be alive."

Yoru meant that in more ways than one...

"Neither should you." He replied before grunting and grabbing his right arm in pain.

Yoru watched as the man's arm literally fell off and thumped on the ground.

"I'll admit my loss for today." The Masked Man stated before space distorted and spun around him. "Fighting you now is fruitless."

He disappeared.

Yoru observed where he had disappeared from for a moment longer. " _It seems like he too has a limit as to how much he can cheat death."_

With that, Yoru exited **Sage Mode**.

 **[Yoru: Gamer]**

The tension never left me as I kept my body on guard while looking at the place the Masked Man had vanished from. " _Could he truly be…?"_

That level of skill and power and his strange space-time technique…how could _he_ have that much strength?

Maybe I was mistaken?

Improving that much in such a short amount of time…unless _he_ had gained my ability somehow, I found it unlikely.

" _It might or might not be him…but there's no time to think about this now."_

The battle between me and the Masked Man had lasted longer than I would have liked.

I had even lost a life for the day.

I shook my head and looked to the direction that I could sense Son-

My face turned unsightly.

 _Dense_

 _Too_ dense

Son was gathering such a dense amount of chakra that it made me queasy just from sensing it. Large amounts of positive black chakra and small amounts of negative white chakra were being gathered in Son's mouth before being shaped into a dark ball of massive energy.

" _This is bad…"_

Just as I thought this…

Suddenly from above, a gigantic toad dropped from the sky and descended upon Son's face just before the Bijuu could complete his tailed beast ball. With the attack sealed within his own mouth, there was no room for Son to release it causing it to detonate within him, smoke leaking from his mouth.

I released a breath for a moment before my eyes sharpened.

This couldn't go on for long.

I sat down in **Meditation** for less than a minute before I regained all my chakra.

Next, in multiple _puffs_ , 3 clones of myself appeared all around me.

Clone 1 quickly hurried to where Iwa was meeting with the Third.

Clone 2 dashed off towards the area Minato had told me Kumo was purportedly staying.

And Clone 3…

"I don't need to tell you this." I said to my final clone. "But if there is anyone with him, slaughter them but make sure you keep his life intact."

The clone looked back at me with an impassive gaze. "For anyone who dares to go after Mito…"

 _There is no mercy._

I nodded at the unspoken words before the clone vanished in a blur using **Swift Release**.

" _Now then."_ I thought, gazing at the area the Masked Man had disappeared in. More specifically, the arm that had fallen off of the individual and was now laying on the ground. " _What or who are you?"_

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

Kakashi sat on the roof of the Hokage's home and looked up to the brilliant moon in the night sky. Many thoughts flitted through his mind in this moment of tranquility…

Until it was abruptly shattered.

The descent of an _unholy_ pressure snapped Kakashi out of his reminiscence as he turned to the source only for his single visible eye to widen.

" _Son Goku! How? Why?!"_

He could hear the Bijuu roar and slam its fists into its chest, its howl sending shockwaves throughout the village, shattering windows along the way.

Screams of terror sounded out as the Village began to flee towards the bunkers located under the Hokage mountain.

" _What is going on?"_ Kakashi asked himself while he saw numerous people below pass by the house and run to the distance.

Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Mito!"

He jumped down from the roof and pushed open the front door of the house before scanning the house. He couldn't see her form at first glance so he pulled up his headband and looked around with his activated sharingan. In but a moment, he found her chakra signature so he hurriedly moved to her spot.

"Mito!" He said, seeing her huddled against herself on the ground, her body trembling in shock and fear while Yoru's white snake was calmly coiled around her. As Kakashi was already aware of Levia, he didn't spare it a glance as he went to comfort the girl.

"What's wrong Mito!"

She sniffled and trembled as she looked at him with tears eyes. "T-The chakra…I-It's too…"

Kakashi immediately understood. He wasn't even a sensor and he could feel how stifling and dark the chakra emanating from Son Goku was. He could only imagine how much a young sensor such as Mito was suffering. It made him wonder how much Son had been holding himself back when they first met and what had caused him to go on a rampage now?

"It's alright." He said, hugging her to him as he kneeled down to her level and hugged her to his chest. As she cried and wrapped her arms around him, Kakashi patted her head and looked at her softly.

" _Firstly, I have to get her to safety. At this time, there should be shinobi headed towards the safety bunkers."_

With his course of action decided, he picked Mito up and left the house-

He paused.

With his sharingan, he could see that there were three chakra signatures making their way in his direction.

The bunkers were located in the opposite direction.

" _Friendlies here to warn the Hokage? Or…"_

"Mito." Kakashi began, looking at the girl in his arms with a grave expression, "Hide."

She looked at his serious expression and nodded before wiping her tears and running into the house.

Kakashi closed the door behind him and looked ahead waiting for a few moments before he spoke. "Come out."

"Interesting, it seems like the sharingan isn't as bad as the Byakugan." A slimy voice filled with disdain spoke before three figures appeared in front of Kakashi.

Each had a Kumo forehead protector which gleamed in the light of the full moon.

He narrowed his eyes. "Why are you here? If it's to talk to the Hokage, he isn't in right now."

"Hahaha. No." The lead Kumo shinobi looked at Kakashi with a sickening smile. "I'm simply here to complete a mission my predecessors failed to finish."

At that, the three of them got into a fighting stance.

At this moment, all the Konoha shinobi were focused on guiding civilians to safety or defending against the 4-tailed Monkey. There was a chance someone would come here to tell the Hokage, but any normal individual would already assume that he was aware of the problem currently plaguing the village.

It was pretty hard to miss a gigantic four-tailed monkey in the middle of the village.

That being said, some would probably still come over if not to ask for orders.

All he had to do was stall for time.

Kakashi bent his knees low and took out a kunai, understanding that there was no room for compromise.

"Kill him." The lead Kumo shinobi stated.

The other two dashed towards Kakashi with tanto in hand.

An overhead slash came down upon Kakashi who deftly switched his kunai into a reverse grip and deflected the attack, the blade gliding off his own. At the same instant, a horizontal slash came from his left side.

Kakashi's sharingan easily picked up the movement and at the last instant, he jumped up, allowing the tanto to pass fruitlessly below him. At that instant, Kakashi spun and dug his heels into the face of the owner of that sword.

The Kumo nin grunted and flew back while the first one to have attacked Kakashi shifted his blade and brought it up towards the sharingan owner from its previously down position.

Kakashi immediately backflipped to avoid the attack and landed softly on the ground before he went through handseals in quick succession.

 **Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu**!

A great ball of fire was launched towards the First attacking Kumo nin. The individual charged his tanto with lightning in response and sliced the ball of fire that was covering his vision.

The Kumo shinobi then widened his eyes as he suddenly lost sight of his opponent and looked front, back, left, right, up-

Kakashi popped up from underground, his red eye gleaming before he dug his kunai into his opponent's calcaneal tendon.

Better known as his Achilles heel.

"ARGH!" The Kumo shinobi screamed as he dropped to one knee, his neck now eye level with Kakashi's face.

Hatake immediately capitalized on this opportunity and raised his blade to slice his opponent's jugular-

Kakashi immediately jumped to the side as a beam of electricity was shot at his face from the shinobi he had kicked away earlier. He did a few back handsprings to distance himself before sliding to a stop.

With one enemy more or less immobilized, Kakashi focused on the enemy that had attacked him before his eye widened.

There was still one more of them!

" _Shit! Mito!"_ Kakashi thought as he turned to face the door of the Uzumaki-Namikaze household-

"ARGH! FUCK!" The lead Kumo shinobi stated as his body was shocked by the defensive seals in place and harshly flew back before brutally impacting the walls of a house across the street.

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief. " _I sometimes forget about those-"_

Goosebumps appeared on Kakashi's skin as his body move on instinct and ducked right before a blade pierced the air where his head had been.

" _Close."_ Kakashi thought as he placed his palms on the ground before sweeping the feet underneath his opponent.

The Kumo nin moved to right himself…

Kakashi flipped through a couple of hand seals and placed his palms on the ground.

 **Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears**!

The earth beneath the falling Kumo nin was condensed and shaped into spikes that protruded from the ground…

And skewered him.

The Kumo shinobi screamed and gurgled blood before his body became limp.

At that moment, Kakashi heard the sound of explosions coming from beside him and he turned to see the lead Kumo shinobi was attacking the Uzumaki-Namikaze home relentlessly with his lightning techniques.

" _That's bad…!"_ Kakashi thought.

The security seals placed on the house were mainly used to keep unwanted people out, but they weren't built to sustain large amounts of damage. After all, who would be _stupid_ enough to so blatantly and flagrantly attack the Fourth Hokage's Residence in the middle of the village?

Right before he was about to go stop him, a blade of electricity came his way forcing him to retreat further away from his objective. Turning his gaze towards the perpetrator, Kakashi saw that it had been the Kumo nin he had slightly disabled earlier.

" _I need to finish this quickly."_ Kakashi thought before flipping handseals and placing his palms on the ground.

 **Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!**

His chakra traveled through the ground and under his enemy before it began to mold the earth beneath, however, just as the spears of earth protruded from the ground…

The Kumo nin ran lightning chakra through his blade and stabbed it below, the lightning release chakra neutralizing Kakashi's earth technique.

" _Of course it wouldn't be this easy…"_ Kakashi thought as he readied his kunai before sparing a quick glance at the Head Kumo shinobi who was still trying to break down the door.

The injured Kumo nin looked at his dead comrade before gazing at Kakashi with a grimace on his face.

He stood up on his one good leg.

Kakashi crouched low.

They moved.

Lightning caressing his blade, the Kumo ninja shot out blades of sharpened electric attacks at the incoming Kakashi.

The white-haired Hatake's sharingan rapidly processed the incoming attack as he rapidly dashed forward towards his enemy. The sharpened electric waves blanketed his vision, however, his eyeball swished back and forth as he located every possible avenue he could use to dodge.

And he did.

He dashed left and right, dodging each blade of lightning that came his way with the absolute minimum movement necessary in order to maintain his momentum. With his quickly moving feet, Kakashi inched closer and closer to his opponent who clenched his teeth tightly.

Seeing as Kakashi was too close, the Kumo nin stopped shooting out blades of lightning and prepared for close quarter combat.

They clashed.

Kunai met tanto in a _clang_ while sparks discharged from the blades' point of contact. Kakashi narrowed his eyes as his body was pushed back by his opponent's superior strength. He backflipped and landed softly-

An explosion and the sound of breakage sounded out as dust and debris flew throughout the battlefield.

"HAHA! FINALLY!"

" _Shit!"_ Kakashi thought as he turned towards the lead Kumo ninja and rushed to stop him-

"I can't let you do that." The voice of the injured Kumo shinobi sounded out accompanied by a bolt of lightning which slammed into Kakashi. He was thrown back and away from the Uzumaki-Namikaze household before he grit his teeth. With a flip, his feet dragged across the ground before friction allowed his body to halt to a stop.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. " _I have to finish this immediately."_

The sound of a thousand birds chirping echoed throughout the area as a high concentration of electricity gathered in Kakashi's right hand.

The Kumo shinobi tensed and raised his blade in preparation for an attack.

Kakashi dashed.

In little time, the white-haired Konoha Jonin was upon his opponent.

At the same instant, the Kumo Jonin lowered his blade to bisect Kakashi.

He was aiming for mutually assured destruction.

" _Unfortunately."_ Kakashi thought, twisting his body mid-motion. " _My eye can see all your attacks."_

The blade of the Kumo shinobi lightly grazed Kakashi's skin, however, the Konoha shinobi was relatively unharmed as he found himself inside his enemy's guard and thrust the ball of lightning through his chest. Kakashi's hand pierced through like a hot knife through butter and exited out of the Kumo ninja's back.

Time seemed to be frozen.

The light in the Kumogakure shinobi's eyes dimmed before his tanto helplessly _clanged_ on the ground. With his body no longer able to support itself, the shinobi died, the weight of his body leaning fully against Kakashi.

The silver haired Jonin of the leaf pushed the enemy's body off him before he hurriedly rushed towards the house.

" _Please let me make it…!"_ He thought as he made it to the door of the Uzumaki-Namikaze estate…

"AHHH!"

A scream erupted from inside the house, however…

It was not from Mito.

"Fuck! You stupid snake…!"

Kakashi immediately ran towards the sound of the scream and generated lighting in his hand.

And then…

"Noo! Levia!" Mito screamed.

" _There!"_ Kakashi thought as he dashed into the room…

His eyes magnified in shock. " _Oh no…"_

It was there he saw Mito on the ground weeping as she held Levia in hand.

Both her halves.

Blood gushed from the snake and spilled onto the floor.

"Who the hell gives a kid a pet snake!" The Kumo Ninja snarled as he cradled his right arm, discolored veins protruding from them.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he noticed his enemy's moment of weakness and quickly dashed forward with his fully charged **Chidori**.

The Kumo Ninja paused his action and glared a Kakashi's direction before he made a split decision to dash away and jump out the room's window. Kakashi being here meant that he had killed the Kumo ninja's comrades.

The Kumo shinobi wasn't certain of his ability to fight the kid while he himself was injured.

Kakashi watched the man run away before deciding not to pursue as it might have been a setup. He sighed and looked down to Mito who was carefully holding onto the unmoving Levia with a forlorn gaze. "Let's go." He said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"But Levia…" Mito murmured.

Kakashi's gaze softened. "There's nothing we can-"

Without warning, the two halves of Levia wriggled before being drawn together.

Both Kakashi and Mito were shocked, the latter so much so that she dropped the white snake.

That watched as the top and bottom half of Levia joined back together before the snake opened its mouth in what seemed like…a yawn?

Kakashi stared incredulously.

"Levia!" Mito yelled as she grasped the snake and rubbed her cheek against it in joy.

The reception of such happiness stuck out its forked tongue, her close proximity with Mito causing it to stroke the red-haired girl's cheek.

The girl giggled.

Kakashi was just confused. " _Did she lick Mito's cheek on purpose like a dog? Or did she just stick out her tongue habitually like a normal snake…Wait now's not the time!"_

"Let's go Mito." Kakashi stated. " _I'll take her to one of Minato-Sensei's safe houses…"_

With Levia now back in one piece (literally), Mito joyfully nodded her head.

With that, Kakashi picked her up and quickly exited the house before making his way to the safe house.

 **[Yoru: Gamer]**

The Kumo Ninja ran to the distance and traveled towards Konoha's Gates. With the mission a failure and with Konoha no doubt too busy trying to stop the rampaging gorilla, there was absolutely no need for him to remain here any longer.

" _Besides, as long as the other group captures their target, this mission can be said to be considered a succe-ugh!"_ The Kumo Ninja groaned as his arm throbbed in pain.

" _Fucking Snake."_ He thought with a grimace and he supported his arm.

Whatever type of snake it was, it's venom was _extremely_ potent. It was quite thankful that the Snake seemed to be only a newborn and so it's venom wasn't quite as strong as it could have been.

The Kumo bin frowned as his feet carried him across the village house rooftops. "Seriously, what type of person gives a kid a venomous snake?"

"Me."

The Kumo Nin's heart lurched at the unexpected reply and he hurriedly stopped and turned around every which way to find the owner of the voice. "Who's there?" He snarled. Since he was running the _opposite_ direction of everyone else, there shouldn't have been anyone here in the immediate vicinity-

He froze.

A presence was behind him.

He hurriedly jumped forward and turned around in mid-air to face his opponent before landing on the ground.

His eyes widened in recognition before he snarled. "You…!"

"So, you were aiming for my sister?" Yoru clone said as he stood calmly across his opponent.

The Kumo nin grimaced as he stared at the white haired boy across from him with a vicious expression. "I didn't expect I would get to see you alive any time soon…Now, I'm going to kill you." He said, disregarding the pain in his arm as he pulled out a tanto from his back.

Yoru smiled tauntingly, "Garbage like you?"

With a grim look, the Kumo shinobi dashed towards Yoru Clone with his tanto raised high.

And brought it down.

However…

"Pathetic." Yoru Clone stated as he raised his arm and utilized **Steel Release** to augment it to immense levels, his appendage turning a black luster in response.

The Kumo nin's eyes widened as his tanto made contact with Yoru's fortified skin.

And snapped.

" _Impossi-!"_

Before the Kumo shinobi could complete his mental sentence, he heard and felt something _crack_.

"ARGH!" He screamed as he dropped to the ground as his right leg bent in the wrong direction.

He was given no opportunity to recover as a knee slammed into his face, cracking and caving it in before his head slammed against the ground.

Suddenly, he felt a weight on his chest.

He shakily looked up to see Yoru look down at him with his gleaming silver eyes, Yoru's foot on his chest.

He shivered.

That gaze…

The Kumo shinobi felt as if his presence was so utterly insignificant in that gaze as if he was worth less than the dog turd that littered the ground.

Yoru grabbed both of the Kumo shinobi's arms and lifted them while his foot kept the Kumo shinobi grounded.

The Kumo nin's eyes magnified "What are you…!"

Yoru _pulled._

 _Slowly_.

"AARRHGHH!" The Kumo nin screamed as his shoulders were dislocated before his arms were slowly _torn_ out of his body. Blood sprayed like a fountain from the now empty arm sockets as the Kumo nin flailed in agony.

Yoru simply tossed the arms aside like trash. He then kneeled down and placed his palms on the profusely bleeding empty sockets.

 **Lava Release**

He cauterized the wound.

Screams of agony followed as the Kumo shinobi felt and _smelt_ his flesh burn.

With that, Yoru looked back at his capture's eyes.

"W-Wait p-please…!" The Kumo Ninja stuttered in fear

"…Did you know that some of Konoha's medical ninjas have the ability to regenerate lost limbs?" Yoru asked, though he seemed uninterested in the answer.

The Kumo shinobi widened his eyes at the implication.

It was something now quite well known.

No one knew how, but every shinobi village knew this fact.

As for why Yoru asked him that question, the Kumo Ninja knew.

He wasn't stupid.

Well, _that_ stupid.

He was going to be tortured horrifically.

Yoru looked at him with a calm smile but to the Kumo Ninja, it was the vilest expression he had ever seen.

"Now then, tell me why you thought it was a good idea to target my _adorable_ Mito."

* * *

 **Author's Note: brownie points for anyone who can tell me what anime Yoru's Sage Art Scorch Style attack was influenced from.**

 **The Masked Man died in order to have Yoru lower his guard so that he could get the drop on Yoru. That was why he didn't use his intangibility as much when fighting Sage Yoru and why he had tried to "escape".**

 **The reason Yoru died so quickly wasn't just because he had his heart ripped out (though that helped immensely) but because his chakra was also drained. Using his Sage arts already took a decent amount of his reserves while the Wood Constructs finished off his chakra and then began to drain his life force till he died.**

 **He also revived with [Second Wind] which grants him an extra life for the day.**

 **Just wanted to explain some of these points before someone brought it up.**

 **The Thinker: Who said Onoki had anything to do with the Four Tail's appearance? (Hint Hint).**

 **PSplinter09: How did I forget about One Punch Man? That's a high possibility now that you reminded me. Speaking of things I forget, he might also visit the Seven Deadly Sins world. Now a lot of ideas are forming in my mind…**

 **MANGOLYFE: Edo Roshi vs KCM Naruto in the anime. Roshi used his [Lava Release Chakra Mode] and kept up with KCM Naruto. That was the same thing he used in my story, so it wasn't that he** _ **only**_ **used one tail. [Lava Release Chakra Mode] drastically increased his abilities similar to Naruto's Kyuubi Chakra Mode. Also, Roshi** _ **did**_ **destroy Yoru. As a matter of fact, if Yoru didn't have his [Mystical Healing] ability and [Gamer's Body], he would have been killed in that single hit. Furthermore, it took a suicide attack for him to barely kill a heavily damaged Roshi. I don't feel like power levels are messed up in my story, but feel free to disagree with my reasoning.**


	26. Chapter 26

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for you. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 26**

Yoru Clone 2 dashed across the streets of Konoha rapidly while using his **Energy Resonance** to feel for enemy chakra signatures. The Kumo delegation was housed next to the Hyuga compound in order for the clan of Byakugan users to have an easier time keeping an eye on them.

From what Yoru knew, there were about 9 Kumo shinobi who had come for "peace" talks with Konoha while he could only sense about 6 on this side of the village.

" _Almost there…"_ Yoru Clone 2 thought before he ground to a halt.

His brows furrowed. " _What are they doing inside the Hyuga compound?"_

At this time when most of Konoha's shinobi were out defending the village, Kumo had the balls to intrude upon restricted grounds…

" _Idiots."_

Yoru thought before he entered his **ID** and snuck around the compound towards where he had sensed the enemies. He hid on the roof of the building in which he had sensed the Kumo nin before he left the **ID**.

Yoru kept his ears peeled as he listened in below.

"Hehe, now that Konoha is too preoccupied with the Four-tails, these byakugan are ripe for the picking." Kumo grunt 1 (as Yoru didn't know nor care about their names) stated gleefully.

"We still have to find a kid belonging to the main branch. Don't get complacent." Kumo Boss (as he seemed to be quite cautious as intelligent people would be) whispered to his subordinates.

With that, they moved around the compound, opening doors and searching for a viable target all the while, Yoru followed from above and thought about how he should handle this…

"Haha, Jackpot!" Grunt 1 yelled.

"Keep your fucking voice down! Do you want to get us killed?!" The Kumo Boss whispered harshly, though there was some joy in his tone as he continued. "However, this is very good indeed…"

Another Kumo Grunt spoke up. "She's just a newborn. If we can grow her within Kumo, we can easily mold her to be loyal to us."

"Can you imagine how _pissed_ the Hyuga would be if they found out about this?"

"Just grab her and go, we don't have enough time!"

" _You're right."_ Yoru said as he took out a kunai and placed an explosive seal on it before tossing it in the air.

" _Explode."_

A booming explosion reverberated throughout the compound.

"Who goes there!" A voice filled with rage called out as Yoru felt a Kage Level chakra signature rapidly approaching.

"Dammit! Let's move!"

The 6 Kumo shinobi dashed out of the walls of the building and made to run.

However.

"Since you came all the way here, why don't you stay…permanently." A man said as he appeared right in front of the group of Kumo shinobi. He had long, black hair and featureless, white eyes — the latter trait shared by all members of his clan. He wore a simple black outfit with mesh-armor underneath, his black forehead protector, and an obi around his waist.

" _Hizashi Hyuga…"_ Yoru thought, recognizing his chakra signature.

The 6 Kumo shinobi flinched before the Kumo Boss yelled. "Hold him off! The mission is more important!"

Hizashi narrowed his eyes before activating his byakugan, the veins near his temple bulging.

Abruptly, his eyes widened. "That chakra signature…" he began while looking at the Kumo Boss with fury. "Put. Her. Down."

The Boss sneered and secured the bundle he had in his hand. "Kill him!"

The other five Kumo shinobi rushed at Hizashi while the Kumo Boss made to escape.

Hizashi snarled in anger, however, he was unable to chase after the lead perpetrator and could only focus on the battle in front of him.

" _My cue."_ Yoru Clone 2 thought as he pulled out a kunai and carefully watched the fleeing Kumo Boss…

Before he threw it.

It pierced through the air towards the Kumo Boss at immense speeds, the projectile aimed at his neck. The hairs on the Kumo Boss stood on end as he twisted his body and tilted his head to dodge the incoming projectile. However, _just_ as the kunai passed by his head…

 **Amenotokotachi**

Yoru appeared right in front of the enemy Shinobi's face and immediately slammed his foot into the Kumo boss's throat.

"ARG!" He screamed as he tossed the bundle he had been carrying in favor of grasping as his damaged trachea. At the same instant, Yoru kicked himself off of the Kumo Nin's chest and secured the baby in mid-air before flipping and landing softly.

The Clone looked at the baby and noted that she seemed to be staring back at him curiously.

Yoru Clone smiled. "You're a strong one aren't you? You're not even crying during this situation."

The baby blinked its adorable pupil-less white eyes in response and reached out her hands with a smile.

And then, the mood was shattered.

"Give. Her. Back!" The Kumo nin said, veins popping in his face as he rubbed his neck with one hand and grasped a tanto with the other.

Yoru simply looked at him in disinterest.

The Kumo nin grimaced and dashed at Yoru with his lightning coated blade, intent on severing the enemy in half. However, just as he brought his blade down onto his opponent's head…

It stopped.

"What is…" the Kumo nin said while his muscles bulged as he tried to force the tanto downwards.

It wouldn't move.

" _ **Magnet Release."**_ Yoru thought before waving his arm.

The Kumo boss yelled as he flew back while still gripping his tanto and crashed onto the ground. Immediately after, Yoru pointed his finger upwards causing the Tanto to fly towards the sky, the Kumo nin still holding it within his grasp.

The Boss's eyes widened.

Yoru pointed his finger down.

The man flew to the ground at Mach speeds before brutally impacting the dirt, a wide and expanding crater forming from the collision.

Yoru sent his chakra through the earth and felt all the iron particles within the soil before mentally gathering them. The result of this endeavor was a plume of iron dust particles rising from the ground around Yoru. He formed them into gigantic needles and spun them around so that they would have a greater penetrating power.

The Kumo Boss coughed heavily and forced himself to stand up before he saw the projectiles aimed at him.

Before he could even contemplate his next course of action, he felt his feet become heavier. The Kumo Boss looked down to see that iron dust particles were clumping together on his leg and adhering him to the ground.

His face paled in despair.

His tanto clanged to the ground.

Yoru Clone flicked his finger.

The projectiles zoomed towards the powerless Kumo shinobi who could only watch wide-eyed until…

He was pierced _numerous_ times.

 _Ruthlessly_.

That complete, Yoru took a stroll back to where Hizashi had fought the 5 Kumo Ninja and raised a brow when he saw that 4 of them were dead while 1 was severely injured.

Hizashi turned his head to face Yoru and looked at him searchingly with narrowed eyes. "Are you…?"

Yoru blinked before he sighed. "I'm not from Kumo. If I was, I wouldn't be here."

Hizashi's expression relaxed slightly though he had a strained smile. "I apologize for my ignorance. I've just never heard of a shinobi of your caliber in our village."

Yoru stuck out his tongue.

Hizashi's expression changed.

It was not because of the act _itself_ but it was because what the act had _shown_ him.

The **Cursed Tongue Seal**

"…I see now why I have never heard of you." Hizashi began as his expression returned to normal. "You too are cursed."

Yoru shrugged.

In all honesty, Yoru could have easily found a way to take it off, but it wasn't really doing anything bad to him so he saw no need to. Besides, Yoru thought it looked kind of cool…

With that, Yoru stepped forward and handed the baby over to Hizashi. "It's good that you kept one alive because I killed the other one."

"Even if you hadn't, I would have." Hizashi stated before he took the baby back and sighed in relief. "I have no idea what my brother would do if he had come to find his daughter stolen. I cannot thank you enough for your aid…?"

"Yoru." The individual in question replied.

Hizashi nodded with a smile. "Thank you, Yoru." He paused and seemed to consider something before he scrutinized Yoru a little. "I'm just curious but it seemed like you had known they were there earlier. Why hadn't you just killed them before they took Lady Hinata?"

" _So that's the cute baby's name…"_ Yoru thought before answering. "If I mounted a sneak attack and failed to kill all six at once, the ensuing battle would cause collateral damage to the buildings and as notable…" Yoru stated, pointing at Hinata. "There were still young children and babies inside the houses. I didn't want to risk it so I had to force them out. Thankfully, your presence saved me a lot of effort."

"Surely you jest." Hizashi said with a short laugh. "Not only were you able to kill Kumo's Head Shinobi, but you were also able to safely secure a fragile target as well. I feel as if you would have been fine regardless."

Yoru blinked. " _Wait, That was Kumo's Head Shinobi…?"_

Huh, Yoru supposed calling him Kumo Boss wasn't incorrect.

"I'll be guarding this area of our compound." Hizashi stated as he walked away before stopping to turn to Yoru. "Your help would be much appreciated, but I understand if you have to attend to…that." He finished, looking at the 4-Tails.

Yoru shrugged. "I'm only a clone so it doesn't really matter."

Hizashi nodded with a smile. "Oh, I see you're only a…clone?!" He froze and stared at Yoru as if he was a monster. "How…?"

"…I'm that good."

"…"

Hizashi was speechless.

Yoru ignored him and blinked as he felt Clone 1's chakra signature permeate the sky and the atmosphere. " _It definitely wasn't cloudy a moment ago…"_

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

"Onoki! What have you wrought to my village?!"

The Tsuchikage expression remained unchanged. "I, unfortunately, cannot take credit for this, but I will tell you that things…eventually, come full circle." With that, the old Tsuchikage's eyes gleamed before he stood up and sneered. "That being said, it is painfully obvious that Konoha stole my village's bijuu and planned to seal it into another host. Thankfully, fate is unbiased and it looks like your host lost control of its power."

Hiruzen's expression changed before he closed his eyes. "…So this is your game plan." He said before he opened his eyes sharply. "But do you truly think keeping me here will prevent Konoha from taking care of that beast? You underestimate the strength of the Fourth Hokage."

Onoki remained impassive. "You know, a little bird told me that the Fourth Hokage's wife would be giving birth soon. I heard that he'd be too busy caring for her during that time to attend to the noise being made over here."

Eyes wide Hiruzen stood up, his gaze boring into Onoki. "How did you…?"

"Does it truly matter at this point?" Onoki stated.

"No." Hiruzen replied before in a _puff_ , he was fitted with his combat attire. On his frame were a black jumpsuit, mesh segments over the lower portions of his limbs, and a green gauntlet that covered much of his right arm. He wore an armored hood with a bandanna-like forehead protector over this, tied with two long straps, across the back of which was written with the kanji for "Fire" (火).

"It doesn't at all."

"So you came prepared." Onoki stated though different thoughts flitted in his mind. " _That Masked Man was able to sneak into the village and summon the Four-tails as he said. Now, as long as he can successfully complete the second phase of his plan and release the Ninetails…"_

At this point, the shinobi on both sides realized that all pretenses had been torn apart and they immediately prepared themselves for combat. Both Kages stared at each other calmly, though, underneath their placid visages, dense killing intent was bubbling.

Then…

They moved.

" _ **Earth Style: Moving Earth Core!**_ " The Tsuchikage thought as his chakra flowed through the wooden floorboard beneath his feet and interacted with the soil further below. Not a moment sooner did a huge cuboid pillar of earth erupt from and destroy the floorboards before piercing through the ceiling above.

Immediately after, the pillar of earth started to become red as white scalding flames bombarded against the barrier. Onoki knew his hastily made defenses would not last so he quickly took to the skies and hovered for a moment before he looked down below.

He clapped his hands together before he separated them, the motions causing a transparent cube with a sphere in the center to form in between his palms.

 **Dust Release: Detachment of Primitive World!**

He launched the cube downwards at the building, uncaring that his own shinobi would be collateral damage.

Right then, a blast of fire, a wave of water, a gale of wind, a bolt of lighting, and a river of mud flew out of the building below and clashed against the **Dust Release** cube. The resulting explosion from the collision of the techniques sent a powerful blast wave that flattened the surrounding area and caused dust to obscure everyone's vision.

From below the smoke of the collision, Hiruzen bit his thumb causing blood to flow out before he slammed his palm on the ground.

 **Kuchiyose!**

In a puff of smoke, Monkey King: Enma appeared. "It seems like this time's trouble is pretty bad."

Hiruzen nodded gravely. "I'll explain it when the situation is dealt with. For now, I need you to transform."

The Monkey King nodded before he immediately transformed.

 **Transformation: Adamantine Staff!**

A thick staff appeared in front of Hiruzen who grasped it and looked up to the sky that was still partially obscured by smoke. Through molding his chakra into the appropriate form, Hiruzen was able to locate and keep track of the Tsuchikage through his chakra signature.

With that, he attacked.

A staff pierced through and split apart the dust cloud as it rushed towards Onoki. The Tsuchikage quickly responded by summoning 5 earthen Clones of himself, 2 of which took the brunt of the attack allowing him and the remaining three clones to dodge to the side.

No sooner did the extended staff swat away at Onoki and his clones, dispelling the residual smoke and causing the Tsuchikage and his clones to fly around in avoidance.

Onoki grinned at the fruitless efforts. " _As long as I can stall long enough…"_ he had no illusions that he could beat this monster of a Hokage, but he didn't have to.

The Onoki swatting abruptly ended, surprising the Tsuchikage, before the Hokage's staff retracted. Onoki looked down below to see the Third Hokage embedding one end his Bo Staff into the ground before balanced himself on the protruding end. Immediately after, the Bo Staff extended once more to the skies, but this time it had a passenger.

As soon as the bo staff carrying Hiruzen reached its apex, Hiruzen jumped before tossing out numerous shuriken in a 360-degree radius around him, then…

 **Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique**!

They multiplied…

And multiplied…

And multiplied even further before the skies were encompassed by a dense "fog" of chakra enhanced shuriken.

The Tsuchikage's earth clones tried to dodge every which way and flee, however, they were unable to do so indefinitely and were pierced by numerous pointed projectiles before they broke apart a and crumbled. Onoki himself was forced to use his **Dust Release** as a shield causing every kunai which came in contact with it to breakdown at a molecular level. When the onslaught ended, Onoki grimaced before he pointed his **Dust Release** cube at the Third Hokage's Adamantine staff.

 **Dust Release: Detachment of Primitive World!**

The technique rapidly shot towards the adamantine staff, but as it had its own mind, it retracted _upwards_ , the part of the staff that had been embedded in the ground coming up to meet Hiruzen in midair.

Just as the Tsuchikage's dust release was successfully dodged, Hiruzen grabbed the staff while still in mid-air and swung it at Onoki with immense speeds. During its travel motion in the air, the Adamantine Staff extended itself, gargantuan wind speeds picking up as a result of its increased size and Hiruzen's strength.

The Tsuchikage grimaced with an eye shut as he was buffeted by the incoming winds and was only able to encase his fist in rock in time as he placed his arm in the path of the attack. His body was brutally slammed across the sky as he was swatted over a Kilometer away before he was able to right himself in mid-air.

At the instant that Hiruzen had finished his attack, he pointed the staff downwards and it extended once more, piercing through the ground while keeping the Third Hokage at an elevated position. In a puff of smoke, two Demon Wind Shuriken appeared in the Third Hokage's hands. Hiruzen jumped and rotated his body before throwing the large shuriken at a vertical position, causing them to rapidly speed towards Onoki.

The man in question looked down below with frown. " _He said it would only take him about a minute after he released the Four-Tails to release the Ninetails…did he lie?"_ Numerous thoughts went through Onoki's mind before he scowled. " _I'll just escape, but not before leaving my mark."_

Onoki clapped his hands together and slowly spread them apart as a _gigantic_ cube formed within his hands and continued to grow as he supplied chakra to it. The Third Tsuchikage's **Particle Style** at its maximum capacity could easily level an Island so while he would not be able to witness the complete destruction of Konoha, he would at least be able to do something devastating.

 **Dust Release-**

At this moment, Onoki saw the incoming projectiles and simply dodged them as they flew by on either side of him.

However.

The two Fuma Shuriken suddenly _puffed_ and transformed into Hiruzen clones who rapidly maneuvered handseals.

Onoki's eyes widened.

A torrent of fire and a gale of wind shot out from the Hiruzen clones and augmented each other before flying towards Onoki rapidly. The old Tsuchikage knew he wouldn't be in good condition after taking these attacks.

" _Tch."_ Onoki thought before he opted to quickly dispel his growing **Dust Release** cube and fly off as he quickly maneuvered to dodge. Seeing that his attack failed, Onoki continued to fly away, not caring anymore about causing destruction to Konoha. It took a long enough time to charge his strongest **Dust Release** attack that the Third Hokage would no doubt be able to counter him again.

There was no need to stay here any longer.

Hiruzen stared at Onoki's retreating form with a furrowed brow as he knew that he would not be able to catch up with the flying opponent-

" _Wait…was it this cloudy a few seconds ago?"_ Hiruzen thought in surprise as he looked up to the sky and saw that black thunderclouds were spreading throughout Konoha's previously clear night sky. The Third Hokage knew that it wasn't natural so he spread out his senses above before his eyes widened as he sensed an all too familiar chakra signature. " _Yoru!"_

Onoki too noticed the abnormality as the previously clear skies became dark with thunderclouds that sparked with electricity. " _What is…!"_

"Please, do stay and allow me to demonstrate my hospitality." Yoru's voice echoed within the clouds.

Onoki's eyes widened as he saw Yoru's silhouette within the clouds before he grimaced. " _This brat…!"_ He raged mentally. " _Since you're already in front of me, I might as well take care of you as well!"_ He thought as he began to generate his **Dust Release** cube in his hands.

Yoru Clone, somewhat hidden within the clouds, looked below at the old cretin that met his gaze.

His eyes glowed with a golden hue.

His scales were white and pristine.

His body radiated bright white energy.

Ethereal snakes coiled around Yoru Clone's form.

" _Fool."_ Yoru thought as he guided the lightning within the thunderclouds he had generated with **Storm Style**. By using the natural energy of his **Sage Mode** in conjunction with the storm clouds from his upgraded **Storm Release** , Yoru was basically able to generate _actual_ storm clouds. He didn't need to go through the tedious process of heating up the atmosphere or anything like that. The only downside was that it cost an _immense_ amount of chakra to generate these kinds of clouds on his own.

Thankfully, he had a lot of energy to spare.

 **Sage Mode** also helped.

Although…he would be pretty much spent after this.

He was only a _clone_ after all.

Even if he loathed to admit it.

He looked below at Onoki who was charging his **Dust Release** attack.

His expression remained unchanging despite his opponent being a Kage.

What was a Kage to a Perfect Being such as himself?

" _Sleep eternally."_

 **Sage Art: Storm Style: Leviathan!**

A _boom_ of thunder sounded out like the roar of an ancient beast.

Onoki's pupils shrunk as he felt a fatal crisis assault his very being.

It had been so long since he experienced this feeling of deadly crisis.

He had only ever felt this way once before…

When he had faced off against Madara all those years ago.

It was the feeling of…

 _Death_

A roar, one more powerful than the last reverberated across Konoha.

Everyone in the village suddenly halted their moments as their gaze turned towards the epicenter of the Storm Clouds.

A Gargantuan snake made of white lightning exited the clouds and gave a beastly roar.

Its horns of electricity flickered in the sky.

Its patterned scales of lighting shimmered.

Its golden eyes were drawn towards its target.

Onoki's pupils constricted.

And then….

The beast struck the flying Tsuchikage.

The sudden and _swift_ attack was far too great for Onoki to dodge. He was only able to hastily form an armor of earth around his body while he positioned his already formed **Dust Release** cube in front of the path of the attack.

Unfortunately-

"Argh!" Onoki screamed as the lightning tore apart his **Dust Release** attack and obliterated his earth made armor through its elemental superiority. He was shot downwards from the sky at immense velocities before his body pierced through multiple layers of dirt causing him to shout the entire way.

And then came the explosion.

All the energy culminated in the lightning bolt was released in an immense conical white dome of energy which rapidly propagated and increased in size.

Everywhere the blast wave passed, the earth and vegetation were vaporized while the aftershocks could be felt from numerous kilometers away.

The sky was lit up with the luminescence created by the beast made from lightning.

Dust and debris filled the surroundings as the attack eventually ended, its energy having already been spent.

Hiruzen balanced himself on the Adamantine Staff form of Monkey King Enma and looked to the distance.

The chakra borne thunder clouds in the sky began to disperse.

Seeing this, Hiruzen jumped from his high altitude position towards the blast site before roughly landing on the outskirts of the blast radius. His feet picked up dust as he slid down towards the center of the crater formed from the impact.

" _What destructive power…!"_ Hiruzen couldn't help but marvel as he looked at the now barren land located on the outskirts of the village. It wasn't like Hiruzen _couldn't_ cause such damage, however, Yoru was only a child and still had so much room to grow, yet, he could already create something so frightening…

Speaking of.

Hiruzen looked up to the sky as he felt Yoru's chakra signature float down and saw said individual descend. He seemed weary as he fumbled a bit after his feet softly landed on the ground near the center of the impact. Otherwise, he looked normal.

In but a moment, the Hokage arrived next to Yoru and looking him up and down appraisingly. "When did you learn how to fly?"

"Five days ago."

Hiruzen opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. It was well known amongst the people who knew Yoru that the child was _bullshit_ for lack of a less coarse term.

So Hiruzen simply replied with, "I see."

Yoru turned his gaze from the Third Hokage to the Third Tsuchikage whose form was covered by a layer of dirt and moved towards him-

" **!"**

If it wasn't **Instinct** then it was the sudden build-up of chakra that caused Yoru Clone 1 to hastily dodge to the side.

No sooner did a **Particle Style** beam of energy fly out of the Tsuchikage's chest.

The attack was just too sudden.

And Yoru had never been the true target.

The beam passed by Yoru and headed for Hiruzen who was much too close to the Tsuchikage to effectively dodge it. His eyes wide, Hiruzen was barely able to twist his body enough as the beam passed him by.

He didn't come out unscathed.

"So…close." A voice said from below the body of the "Tsuchikage" which Yoru now came to realize was fake as it turned into mud. The Tsuchikage then popped up from the ground and heaved vicious breaths.

His clothes were in ruin.

His body was torn, mutilated, and burnt in its entirety.

Blood pooled from his wounds as the Tsuchikage glared at both Yoru and Hiruzen.

He was already one foot in the grave.

" _I'm surprised he is still alive…worthy of a Kage."_ Yoru thought before his face formed into a grimace as he thought about how the Tsuchikage was able to mount such a sneak attack.

" _He sank his body further below in the ground and created a clone above his real body that would be visible to us…"_ It merely took a few moments for Yoru to understand how the Tsuchikage had been able to form the attack without him noticing. With him placing his real body right below his clone's, the two chakra signatures overlapped and since they were the same, Yoru hadn't been able to tell it _was_ a clone.

Hiruzen grimaced as he looked at his now nonexistent right arm before he stood tall and looked at Onoki dispassionately. "Unfortunately for you, this injury is more of a temporary annoyance."

Onoki spat on the ground, blood flowing out of his mouth.

Suddenly, numerous figures in Anbu Masks appeared and surrounded Onoki.

Hiruzen sighed. "Give up Onoki. Further bloodshed is unnecessary. I just want to know how you came in possession of that information."

After looking around and seeing that his situation was grim, Onoki smiled at the Hokage, his heavily scarred face making his expression especially gruesome. "Earlier I told you that everything eventually comes full circle…" he chuckled to himself. "He founded Konoha, was kicked out of his own clan and village and now, he is back once more to take everything."

Hiruzen frowned. "Who?"

Onoki's grin widened "Madara."

Everyone's expression changed.

"That's impossible." Hiruzen stated as he glared at Onoki, though there was the slightest trace of doubt in his own statement.

"Whether you believe me or not doesn't matter." Onoki stated. Even he himself was doubtful that the Masked Man was who he claimed to be, however, he didn't mind using this information anyway. As long as the terror and prestige of Madara Uchiha shook Konoha, he would be happy even in death.

Hiruzen decided not to bother anymore and looked at the surrounding Anbu. "Capture him-"

" **!"**

"Move back!" Yoru Clone stated as he was the first to follow his instructions.

The other shinobi were not idle as their honed instincts detected the danger and jumped back as well, just as a large **Dust Release** cube formed in Onoki's hand.

"Onoki!" Hiruzen yelled as he looked at his adversary. "There's no need to continue this madness!"

"…You asked me what cost would I be willing to pay if it ensured that my will of Stone would continue." Onoki began as his **Particle Cube** expanded in size.

Hiruzen widened his eyes.

Onoki genuinely smiled. "If it is to pass on the Will of Stone to my village's progeny…"

 _I would bid my life_

The **Dust Release** cube exponentially expanded in an instant, Onoki trapping himself inside the cube.

A pause.

Suddenly, the white sphere in the center of the cube expanded and encompassed everything inside the **Dust Release** cuboid in a brilliant light…

And then it ended.

The cube dissipated after its energy was spent and in its spot was…

 _Nothing_.

Onoki had destroyed himself at a molecular level, leaving no trace of his existence.

"…Let's deal with the other pressing issue." Hiruzen stated with a sigh as he turned to look at the Four-Tailed beast that was fighting with a Gigantic Toad summon and an enormous Snake summon.

The Anbu around the area immediately dashed off to aid in the situation while Hiruzen looked at Yoru who was sitting on the ground in exhaustion. "I apologize if this is too much for you to handle, however, I would like to regain my arm if you don't mind."

"…That might be a bit problematic."

Hiruzen furrowed his brows. "How so?"

"For one, that earlier attack on the Tsuchikage took a _lot_ out of me and two…" Yoru looked at Hiruzen apologetically. "I'm only a clone so I'm out of fumes."

Hiruzen blinked.

Suddenly, Yoru Clone 1 whipped his head towards a certain direction, but before he could do or say anything…

He _puffed_.

"…"

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

"So that was the plan huh." Yoru Clone 3 said not only in response to the memories he had received from Clone 1 but also from the answers he had gathered from his _questioning_.

Around him were about 5 pairs of arms that he had regrown and torn off from the Kumo nin that had touched Mito.

Speaking of.

"P-Please, that's all I-ARGH!"

The Kumo nin screamed as another pair of his arms were brutally torn from their sockets and tossed aside like garbage.

"If that's true, then your existence is now meaningless." Yoru stated as he pointed his index finger at the enemy, a ball of energy coalescing at its tip…

 **Storm Style-**

"Wai-!"

 **Laser Finger!**

It shot forward and pierced through the man's skull and exited out the other end.

He died.

" _Now then."_ Yoru thought about the pairs of arms littering the ground. " _I should give back to the environment."_

With that thought, the ground underneath the ownerless arms shook before opening up and swallowing them whole.

" _My work here is complete."_

He _puffed_.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

 _ **[Yoru POV]**_

"Congratulations! It's a boy!"

Were the words I heard in the background while I quickly sorted out the memories of my clones. For one thing, the way Clone 3 handled the Kumo nin conformed to my wishes and the information he had obtained was eye-opening. As for the information I had obtained from Clone 1…

" _Madara…?"_ I thought to myself with furrowed brows. If he was talking about that Masked Man, then that was obviously bullshit. Forgetting about the information I already had about the Masked Man, wouldn't Madara be like 100 years old or something by this time? From the Masked man's hair color to his strength and his posture, it just didn't match up.

That being said, it wasn't _impossible_ since the **Impure World Reincarnation Technique** was a thing, but I was skeptical nonetheless. If the Masked Man was truly Madara, he would have bitch slapped me even with my **Sage Mode**.

Then again, maybe he wasn't referring to the Masked Man, but I found that unlikely.

Disregarding those thoughts, I brought myself out of my reverie and looked around.

Around me was a vast field of _white_.

Floating all around in the air were both transparent and white cuboid structures.

Yes.

I was in my **Personal Dimension** or **Pocket Dimension**.

I highly doubted there was a place more secure in the world for Kushina to give birth without having to worry about the Fox rampaging everywhere.

"My cute little Naruto~" I heard Kushina say lovingly.

I decided that I had to ruin this happy moment as there was a rampaging giant monkey in the village. I walked close to them and simply stated, "I'm sorry, but there's an urgent situation that needs your attention."

Minato paused at that statement and looked at me. "Carry on."

"Wait just a moment." Biwako said in exasperation. "Can't whatever you have to say wait until after this family moment? Also, what even is this place? I was under the impression that we would be going to the designated area. Tossing me and my student in this random emptiness…"

Minato looked at her sheepishly. "I apologize Lady Biwako. It was due to Yoru's paranoia that I allowed him to bring us…" He paused. "Actually, where is _here_? I can't feel the existence of my **Hiraishin** markers…"

Everyone looked at me in interest for the answer.

"My pocket dimension, but that's not important."

I got the feeling that they wanted to retort, but I didn't let them.

So I continued. "Anyway, a Masked man who…" I paused for a moment. "…may or may not be Madara tried to kill me and enter the barrier while the 4-Tails is currently rampaging on the outskirts of the village. Three of the nine Kumo delegation shinobi tried to kidnap Mito but Kakashi took care of two while I-well my clone-killed and tortured the last one…for information of course."

Everyone: "…"

"Continuing on, the Third Tsuchikage fought with the Third Hokage during this time but was repelled soundly. He tried to escape to the sky but I learned how to fly five days ago and so my clone struck him with a bolt of lightning from the clouds. The Tsuchikage managed to mount a sneak attack that cut off Lord Hiruzen's arm, and then he killed himself with his own ninjutsu."

Everyone: "…"

"And then the remaining six Kumo Ninja from the delegation mounted a kidnapping operation on the Hyūga Clan as they tried to capture a young Hyūga Clan member. Hizashi Hyuga killed 4 and captured 1 while many clone killed the Kumo Head Ninja and retrieved the baby he had tried to escape with…she was very cute."

Awkward.

Silence.

Minato's expression shifted from rage to shock to confusion and a variety of other things while Kushina's expression-

"Oi." She said deeply, a shadow covering her face. "What was the first thing you said."

I blinked. "The Masked M-"

"About my baby girl."

Ohh.

"…Kumo tried to kidnap her-"

"I'LL KILL THEM!" She screamed in rage as she as her hair whipped around wildly in nine parts. A dense pressure of chakra descended upon the occupants in the room while baby Naruto simply yawned in Minato's hands and fell asleep.

"C-Calm down dear!" Minato stated as he carefully cradled the baby in his hands while looking at his wife worriedly.

Kushina took a deep breath before looking at me. "Where is she?"

"Kakashi has her and the **Amenotokotachi** marker I had on her told me that they were heading towards your safe house **.** They should be here by now." I replied.

She clenched her teeth in anger as numerous thoughts seemed to run through her mind before she smiled grimly, "Since they decided to give us the 4-Tails, I'll take it as my baby shower gift."

Ohh, she was _pissed_.

"Yoru! Take me and Naruto to the 4-Tails! Let's give him his very first birthday gift hehe."

Scratch that, she was _livid_.

I almost felt bad for Son.

 _Almost_.

"But you just gave birth!" Minato stated worryingly. "Do you think it's a good idea to exert yourself in restraining it?"

"Even if the Ninetails was _ripped_ out of my body, my stomach pierced through by its claw and I was on the verge of death, I would _still_ be able to keep it at bay! Now let's go!"

That was an oddly specific scenario…

Minato twitched a smile and looked at me.

I nodded. "Gather around."

Biwako, Taji, Minato, Kushina, and baby Naruto were all huddled together. Seeing this, I approached them before placing a hand on Taji.

 **ID Escape!**

Spacetime warped before we 6 found ourselves back outside where the battle between me and the Masked Man had taken place, the aftermath still visible.

Biwako widened her eyes. "Goodness…"

"The entire chamber has been destroyed." Taji observed with a tense expression before looking at me. "You did this?"

"I had to in order to kill the enemy." I stated. "Unfortunately, he was somehow able to cheat death…such a hacker."

Of course, I conveniently decided to ignore the fact that I could do the same once per day…

"For an enemy to push you so far…" Minato said gravely as he looked around. "Even worse, to think about what would have happened if we had decided to bring Kushina here…"

I could sense the growing tension within everyone at that morbid scenario.

I suddenly found myself within the pleasant embrace of a woman. "I cannot thank you enough for what you've done." Kushina said softly.

"That's unnecessary. I was merely-"

"Hush you."

"…"

After a moment, Kushina separated from me before looking to Minato with a serious gaze.

He looked back with a nod before holding her hand.

They then vanished.

"Do you two want an express lift back?" I asked the two women.

Biwako looked to the distance before shaking her head. "My apprentice and I will go help the wounded…there are no doubt many of them due to that situation."

I looked at Son who was fighting both a giant Toad and a Snake. "I see. Be safe."

"Likewise." Taji said with a smile.

With that, I took that as my cue to leave and located one of my **Amenotokotachi** markers throughout the village before I vanished to it. I appeared in some corner of the village and pulled out a kunai before engraving an **Amenotokotachi** marker on it with my chakra. Since that technique just switched the spatial positions of two target markers, I would have to create a new marker at a place I teleported to.

Mito would be safe with Kakashi inside Minato's bunker so I didn't worry much about her.

With that, I spread out my senses and felt for my Teacher's chakra signature.

" _Good…"_ I thought as I sensed her near the safety bunker located under the Hokage Monument and made my way over there. If she had been fighting the Four-Tails, I would have just dragged her away. For the sake of her health and my sanity, I didn't want her to die because there were a lot of fucked up things I would do Iwa and Kumo in revenge.

 **ID Create** was a frightening skill…

As my thoughts were completed, I arrived at the scene of my Teacher with her Anbu attire on guiding civilians inside the bunkers while also keeping a lookout.

"Yoru." She said without even looking at me, her eyes still scanning the surroundings. "Even though I could sense you from miles away, I feel more reassured that you are here."

"Likewise." I replied. "The situation?"

"Ohh you know…" she began as she sighed and looked at me. "Panic, confusion, screaming, and infighting. People are such a handful. What about you?"

I paused and thought about what to tell her. "…It's stabilizing."

"What happened?"

"Well…" I began. "Kumo tried to kidnap Mito and a Hyūga Clan member while the Tsuchikage fought the Third Hokage." I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell her about the Masked Man though…

She removed her mask and looked at me with a narrowed gaze. "Did you do something life risking."

"Not…necessarily." I mean, the consequences would have been much worse if I hadn't fought the Masked Man. Though I did get my heart ripped out of my body and I did die for a little while…Is this what they called women's intuition? Truly a frightening ability.

She stared at me a little while longer and put back her mask on with a _hmph_. "In any event…" she began as she rubbed my head. "I'm glad you are safe."

" _Likewise."_

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

 _ **[3rd Person POV]**_

In a flash, Minato appeared near the focal point of the battlefield, a sleeping baby in one hand and his wife holding the other. With a quick visual scan, he noticed the Sannin were helping to slow down the Four-Tails with Gamabunta and Orochimaru's summon taking the lead.

Minato looked at the massive destruction caused by the rampaging beast. Houses were destroyed while the corpses of shinobi and civilians unfortunate enough to have been located right beside the Four-Tails when it had been summoned, littered the ground. Those that were fortunate enough to be alive were being tended to by Tsunade's slug summon as they groaned in agony.

It was a scene from hell.

" _And if I hadn't brought back all on-duty shinobi this situation…"_

He could only imagine how much worse it could have been.

"…Minato." Kushina said softly as she caressed his cheek and turned his face toward her.

The Fourth Hokage closed his eyes and leaned into her touch before opening them with a smile. "Let's go."

Kushina nodded.

With that, Minato walked closer to the Four-Tails and narrowed his eyes as he looked into those of the beast. " _The sharingan? Can it really control a tailed beast? Did Yoru actually fight Madara? Maybe a descendant?"_ Were the thoughts running through his mind, but he shelved those for later.

There were more important things to focus on.

Jiraiya suddenly slammed into the earth, his feet dragging his body back across the ground for a few meters. He halted to a stop and took a breath before his hand coming up to wipe a few strands of blood that had stained his lips.

"Sensei, how is the situation?"

Jiraiya perked up at the sound and turned to face Minato with a sigh. "It's not the best, but it could have been _much_ worse."

"An understatement." Orochimaru stated as his body landed on the ground.

"And if I wasn't here, the casualties would have been much more severe." Tsunade stated as she walked over. "What do you plan to do?"

Minato sharpened his gaze. "We'll seal it away."

"In wh-" Jiraiya paused his questioning as looked at the bundle in Minato's hand and blinked. "Is that…?"

"I suppose congratulations are in order." Hiruzen's voice sounded out as his body dropped down from above.

Tsunade's eyes widened, "Sensei your arm…!"

"We can talk about that later." He began before he strained a smile. "Though I would appreciate your help on the matter." He asked.

Tsunade nodded used **Mystical Healing** to regrow Hiruzen's arm.

Jiraiya looked at Minato. "Are you sure?"

"We are." Kushina was the one to reply as her gaze constricted. "Can you believe Kumo tried to steal _my_ baby girl?!"

The atmosphere coagulated.

It wasn't a secret among the people here that Kumo had tried to do something like this before with Kushina and now they had attempted it again.

"It seems like there is a lot we will have to talk about later." Hiruzen stated as he flexed his new arm before his gaze turned upwards towards the Four-Tails, "But first…"

Minato nodded. "Dispel your summons. Kushina will be able to handle it from here."

Jiraiya and Orochimaru looked at each other and nodded before Tsunade suddenly asked with an odd look. "Didn't you just give birth?"

Kushina raised a brow "Yeah so?"

"…"

Jiraiya chuckled before he looked to the tangling behemoths. "Gamabunta! We can handle it from here!"

" **It's about damn time!"** The giant toad yelled as it leaped away from Son Goku with bated breaths. " **I wouldn't have been able to keep up for much longer."**

"Likewise Manda." Orochimaru said. "Your presence is no longer required."

" **Tsk. At least you didn't summon me for something stupid."** The giant snake said as it uncoiled from Son and put some distance between it and the Bijuu before glaring at Orochimaru. " **Just remember my 100 human sacrifices!"**

"10. Now shoo."

" **You…!"**

Suddenly, the Four-Tails roared as a dense amount of chakra started to gather above his mouth, the pressure of which caused the area to tremble.

Hiruzen acted instantaneously.

With his staff in hand, he dashed towards the Four-Tails and stopped right underneath its chin before he pointed his staff upwards.

"Extend!"

Along with his words, the staff shot upwards at high speeds and slammed into Son's chin. The resulting impact caused the Bijuu's head to snap up as it released its **Tailed Beast Bomb** into the sky.

It detonated brilliantly, the attack lightning up the night sky for miles to come.

Minato yelled "Kushina!"

"I got it ya know!" Immediately after those words, thick and dense chakra chains erupted from Kushina's back and wrapped around Son Goku. Their natural ability to restrain chakra functioned enormously against the giant ape as his struggles against them proved fruitless.

"… **About my sacrifices-"**

"If you don't leave this instant, I'll tie you up, cut you into pieces, and have snake ramen every day for a year!" Kushina yelled as her eyes glinted towards the snake.

Manda froze before with a _tsk_ , he _puffed_ and vanished.

" **Hehe Minato, you really know how to pick your mate."** Gamabunta snickered before it _puffed_ as well.

Said blonde individual twitched a smile.

"I'll keep Katsuyu here so that she can help with healing our injured soldiers." Tsunade stated.

Minato nodded and with a limpid gaze looked at Son who was becoming exhausted from its energy being sealed.

 _Puff_

As the smoke cleared, a ceremonial altar, which Minato had summoned, appeared in view of everyone. With that, he placed his son on it and smiled at his adorable face. Minato placed his hand on his son's stomach and channeled his chakra before the **Eight Trigrams Seal** 's formula appeared on him.

His gaze turned to stone as he looked at the Four-Tails.

Minato arrived in front of the Four-Tails and flipped through a few handseals before be placed his hand on it. Immediately after, dense and numerous lines of Fuuinjutsu script covered Son's body, but it could only give out a weak roar in protest as its chakra was being sealed.

With that, everything was complete.

Quickly, chakra visually emerged from the Four-Tail's body and flowed towards the ceremonial altar where Naruto was located. It then sank into the **Eight Trigrams Seal** on the baby's stomach. The Four tails began to visibly decrease in size until finally, its chakra was completely siphoned and the last traces of the beast went into Naruto.

Hiruzen sighed. "Thankfully we managed to make it through this."

Minato nodded and turned towards his child before looking back at Hiruzen. "But now we have to deal with the aftermath."

 **{-Yoru: Gamer-}**

 _ **[Unknown Location]**_

Space suddenly distorted in a spiraling fashion before Obito Uchiha's form appeared inside his hidden abode.

" _Yoru…"_ he thought as he removed his mask and tossed it to the side, his hand covering his now useless left eye. " _I thought I had been strong enough and I actually was, but then you pulled that crap…"_ he grimaced. " _You are such bullshit."_

He staggered and used his free hand to support himself on the wall before he regained some control of his body.

" **The plan failed…even after we were able to manipulate Iwa and Kumo into joining."** Black Zetsu stated as he popped up from the ground and stared at Obito.

"They knew we were coming." Obito said gravely. "Kushina wasn't at the location she should have been while giving birth."

Black Zetsu widened his eyes. " **How is that possible?! No one should have known about your existence let alone about our plan."**

Eyes narrowed, Obito shook his head. "I have no idea but one thing is for certain…" He said as she slid down the wall until his but touched the floor. "Yoru is not to be underestimated."

" **You lost an eye."** Zetsu noted.

Obito grimaced. "I was forced to use **Izanagi**."

The half-plant like monster narrowed his eyes. " **His clone was powerful enough to defeat the Tsuchikage. It's no wonder his true self beat you."**

"It doesn't matter, I have a few spares." Obito stated as he righted himself up. "It's not unusual for a couple of Uchiha to go missing during dangerous missions. Besides…" Obito narrowed his eyes as he stared at the ceiling. "At some point in the future…I will re-acquire what belongs to me."

Black Zetsu looked at Obito sharply. " **You mean…!"**

Obito looked at the black creature before shaking his head. "…That was my past. I won't try to reclaim it for my future."

" **Then how do you plan on getting it back?"**

"I won't take back what I have given away, however…" Obito looked down at his fists before he clenched them. "I can _regrow_ what I've lost."

It took a moment.

Then, Black Zetsu's eyes magnified.

"Did you truly believe you could keep this information from me indefinitely?" Obito asked as his gleaming eye bore through Black Zetsu.

Black Zetsu didn't respond for a moment. "… **Finding and getting ahold of the right Konoha medic-nin will be difficult. They are no doubt highly on edge and have increase security** _ **especially**_ **at their hospitals. That's not to mention that they have a kill switch, so forcing them won't work."**

"But you can circumvent that can't you?" Obito asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"…"

He said nothing.

"Regardless, it doesn't matter for now." Obito said, shaking his head. "I was simply thinking about the near future."

There was a silent pause.

"Any news on the Three-Tail's location?"

"… **Not since its previous host-"**

Obito's eyeballs turned towards the black creature and bore into it.

" **-** _ **Rin**_ **died. This situation is eerily similar to when the Four-Tails left the grid."**

"…Until it magically showed up a few days back." Obito concluded. "So you're saying that Yoru is responsible? And that he is keeping it someplace else?"

" **That would be the most logical conclusion. He was there with Rin and took her away with his strange spacetime technique."** Zetsu replied. There was no way in the Shinigami's Stomach that he would tell Obito that the Three-Tails was actually sealed inside his girlfriend who happened to be alive and was living pretty nicely.

He was also not going to explain that in order for Obito to complete Madara's goal, he would have to capture and then slowly and painfully extract the Bijuu from Rin's body and watch as the light left her eyes before she turned into nothing more than an empty husk.

Black Zetsu didn't think saying such things would be good for his health.

He would just have to cross that bridge when he got there.

"I see." Obito stated before he stood up. "Then my next course of action is set." He walked further into the hall as darkness covered his frame. " _You will become an obstacle to my plans and as such…"_

His sharingan gleamed.

" _You need to be removed."_

His body sunk into the shadows.

* * *

 **Author's Note: 100 Brownie points to those who answered 'Escanor' to last week's question or at least made some reference related to him. (PRAISE THE SUN!)**

 **Why am I getting reviews saying that Yoru should have just told the Masked Man that Rin was alive? Yoru's is like 90% OC and only 10% SI mind you, so even if he knows that the Masked Man is Obito, he's not going to instantly figure out why or what caused him to change so much. Furthermore, Sage Mode Yoru doesn't actually** _ **care**_ **and he was the one fighting the Masked Man the entire time.**

 **The only reason Onoki was even hit by Yoru's attack was because he underestimated Yoru and tried to tank it instead of continuing to flee.**

 **nekoboy13: They were standing on hot lava caused by** _ **Yoru's**_ **attack which they** _ **both**_ **tanked. It would be Plot Induced Stupidity if I made them unable to survive hot lava when they could survive an attack with much more energy. Also, people massively overestimate the amount of energy that is contained within the heat of hot lava. It is nowhere near the amount of energy it would take to say, destroy a mountain, something which Kage level shinobi are capable of.**

 **GodOfPixies: Remember that Yoru lost access to his Gamer prompts as noted in chapter 24. Therefore, he couldn't have gotten a prompt either way. I hope this also answers your question, Arya970**

 **UltimateGohanssj10: Who said Obito only had one sharingan?**

 **Magnussen osbourne: He won't be bringing anyone to the first universe he visits, but he will eventually be coming back.**

 **kaiokenkaizer: The reason Yoru didn't use a kunai to the head = Instakill method was that he wasn't sure how many times Obito could cheat death. As a result, he came up with the plan of tagging Obito with the Rasengan and (while I don't think I explained this part in the last chapter) he then implanted his Amenotokotachi mark on Obito. With that, even if Obito could cheat death, Yoru would be able to find him anytime.**

 **coldblue2015: (1) I suppose this chapter sort of answered that question. Sorry if it wasn't what you were expecting lol. (2) I really don't think I'm gonna do the 'MC** **gets sharingan through bloodline implant' route. I dunno, it almost feels overdone. (3) Yes, she can. Levia has basically all the Kekkei Genkai Yoru received in his blood. (4) You're basically right. Obito and Zetsu manipulated Iwa and Kumo into attacking Konoha together while Iwa and Kumo did so with their own goals in mind. I have a little more detail on that for the next chapter.**

 **Damien NightFall: Retaliate against Kumo? Haha, next chapter you will not be disappointed…I hope.**


	27. Chapter 27

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out...

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 27**

"Madara Uchiha…" Minato said contemplatively before looking to Hiruzen. "Is that really true?"

"I…am not sure." Hiruzen stated after a pause.

In a conference room inside the Hokage Tower, Danzo, Minato, and the Hokage's advisors: Homura, Koharu, and Hiruzen, were all seated around a large desk and looking at each other gravely.

Koharu squinted her eyes contemplatively. "The 4-tail's eyes…didn't they look like-"

"The sharingan." Hiruzen replied succinctly. "Many people were able to notice its familiar pattern. There's no doubt about it."

"Then that means an Uchiha…" Minato paused and rubbed his forehead in irritation. "But it couldn't have been one of our own since the Uchiha clan lost a lot of people as well, it wouldn't make sense unless-"

"Someone went rogue." Danzo completed. "An Uchiha skilled and powerful enough to control a tailed beast so utterly. There's only one Uchiha we know of with that sort of skill."

The name didn't need to be said.

Minato closed his eyes for a moment and relaxed before simply stating. "I'll talk to Fugaku and see if he knows anything about how an Uchiha could accomplish such a thing."

Everyone else nodded at the decision.

"You said you couldn't find any trace of Onoki?" Koharu asked as she gazed at Hiruzen.

The Third Hokage shook his head. "He destroyed himself at a molecular level. Not a single trace of his presence can be found and so **Edo Tensei** is completely useless."

"Even in death, he makes things more difficult." Danzo said with an eye narrowed as his hands more tightly gripped his cane. "I had already warned that bringing them inside the village was a foolish endeavor."

God only knew how much Danzo hated Iwa.

"True." Hiruzen stated. "However without their arrival, we would have been left in the dark as to who had caused this attack. It may or may not be Madara, but it was definitely a powerful individual who knew more about Konoha than anyone other than us should. From Kushina's pregnancy to the barrier and to the timing of the attack…"

Minato then stated after a moment. "Yoru told me that the enemy he faced was 'Very strong and skilled'" Minato explained. "He even described him having an extremely odd Space-time ability which allowed him to phase through all of his attacks and also suck them into a spiraling space-time vortex. However…" Minato paused as if deliberating something. "He seemed to be a little off when talking about him…"

Danzo tapped his cane on the ground. "Regardless of who he is or may be, his ability illuminates a serious security breach of our village. He was able to sneak in completely undetected and summon the Four-Tails in the middle of the village."

That all too legitimate realization caused everyone to turn grave.

Minato spoke up, "…I'll consult with my wife on creating a Spacetime blockade around Konoha." He then looked at everyone. "It will not be easy, however, and will take a long period of time to create and set up something so large scale. Not to mention having it not interfere with my **Flying Thunder God** technique…"

"Do it when you can." Hiruzen stated. "You no doubt have a lot of other things to focus on right now and the enemy won't attack any time soon after his failed endeavor."

After Minato nodded in understanding, Homura spoke up in intrigue. "How was Yoru able to drive him off then?"

Minato simply stated, "He exploited its limitation which was that the enemy had to be tangible in order to attack. Using that window, Yoru was able to tag him with a **Rasengan**."

"Wait a moment." Homura stated contemplatively. "If he had such an ability, why didn't he just bypass Yoru and enter the barrier? I'm glad he did not, but if he was so hell-bent on causing destruction to Konoha, why would he bother with Yoru."

That…was a good question.

Everyone paused and looked at Minato.

"…No, he did enter the barrier."

"…"

Everyone froze.

Homura asked in shock, "Then how are…?"

"We took precautions and changed up the location at the last minute." Minato began. "Yoru, however, still decided to guard over the original area as a decoy."

Koharu frowned. "And his prudence served us well. However, we still have no idea who the mastermind behind the attack was."

"…Not quite." Minato stated, gathering everyone's attention. "Yoru managed to sever the enemy's right arm which was then sent to Orochimaru for analysis. We may or may not get much from it, but at least it's something."

"No, that's plenty." Hiruzen stated. "It may bring us closer to discovering his identity."

Everyone silently agreed with those words.

There was a moment of contemplative silence.

"Then…" Minato began quietly. "About Kumo…"

Hiruzen sighed and shook his head. "Jiraiya has already scouted their borders and they are tightly locked down. We didn't really pay attention before, but it seemed like even before the attack, they had been slowly bringing back on-duty shinobi and increasing their defensive manpower."

"They were preparing." Danzo said simply. "Regardless of whether their mission succeeded or failed, they knew that there would be a retaliation. Now that Konoha needs to focus on rebuilding some of its infrastructures and calming the masses, we won't have the peace of mind nor manpower to deal with them."

Minato looked down at his desk and closed his eyes for a moment. "They tried to kidnap my daughter to use her for…" he paused and gripped his fists.

"As a father, believe me when I say I can grasp how much anger you must be feeling." Hiruzen stated while placing a hand on Minato's shoulder. "But as of now, we can neither outwardly nor covertly attack them, not with how much they've barricaded themselves. For now, we will have to let this go."

The Fourth Hokage sighed and opened his eyes before nodding. "I suppose that's all I can do." He shook his head for a moment before asking. "Casualties?"

"287 lost their lives while 1033 are/were suffering from various degrees of injuries." Koharu explained. "Thankfully, our improved medical ninjutsu has allowed us to more easily treat those who are severely injured and so anyone who is still alive should be able to make a full recovery."

Minato nodded in understanding before asking, "Damage?"

"Moderate." Homura replied. "A decent section of the center of the village was destroyed and it should take us a couple of months at most to full repair."

"And how are the citizens handling things?"

"With some reassurance, they've been handling it well." Hiruzen stated. "They're a bit shaken up, but with our quick response, their trust in us hasn't wavered much."

Minato nodded, "Good. Is there anything else?"

There was a round of silence.

"Alright then, this meeting is-"

"…Actually, there is one other thing." Danzo said, his expression more grave than it had been since the start of the meeting.

Seeing him like that, everyone adopted heavy expressions.

Minato looked at him and nodded.

With that, Danzo pulled out a black book from within his robe and placed it on the table before sliding it towards Minato. "This is Iwagakure's newest addition that I had obtained from a captured Iwa ninja just a couple days ago. Flip to page 45."

"The bingo book?" Asked Homura. "What exactly is it could cause you to be so uptight?"

Danzo's expression somehow turned worse. "They have some information they should not have."

The Fourth Hokage's heart pounded as he received a foreboding feeling. Quickly picking up the book, Minato flipped to the page before his eyes widened. "This…!"

"What's in it?" Hiruzen asked as his brows grew furrowed, though he seemed to have a certain premonition as well.

Minato handed the Third Hokage the bingo book.

Hiruzen's expression changed.

"Are you all going to keep us two in suspense the entire day?" Koharu asked, referring to her and Homura.

The Third Hokage placed the open bingo book on the table.

Koharu and Homura looked at it.

Their expression coagulated as well.

* * *

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Age: 11**

 **Threat Assessment: S-Rank**

 **Bounty: 75,000,000 Ryo**

 **Wanted: Iwagakure**

 **Kekkei Genkai: Storm Release, Magnet Release, Scorch Release.**

 **Skills: Likely proficient in Water Release, Wind Release, Fire Release, Earth Release, and Lightning Release. Space-time Technique.**

 **Description: Has access to multiple elemental kekkei Genkai. Is reportedly, highly skilled and very dangerous with numerous attack possibilities. It is recommended to either not engage with the target or to proceed with extreme caution. Space-time technique makes him difficult to catch.**

* * *

Above Yoru's name was a quite accurate image of him as well.

"How…?" Homura asked.

"I assume that the Masked Man put out information on him after they fought." Minato stated after a moment. "It is possible that if the Masked Man was really that strong, then Yoru had to use some of his technique in order to stop him."

"That's not all." Hiruzen stated, gathering attention around him. "Onoki somehow knew who Yoru was before this bingo book. That should not be possible."

"Because for all intents and purposes, Yoru doesn't _exist_ in our shinobi database." Danzo stated as he tapped his cane on the ground. "It should not have been possible for the intruder to get his name, especially if that had been the first time they met."

Everyone remained silent.

Minato clenched his fists in silent irritation as he stood up. "I will contact Yoru later tonight. In the meantime, I will need to begin working on the ever-growing piles of paperwork on my desk."

Everyone stayed silent in agreement.

Minato nodded, "Then this meeting is adjourned."

With that, he vanished in a flash.

 **{Yoru: Gamer}**

The impact of the 4-Tails attack (as it was dubbed) was far-reaching, the event sending shockwaves throughout the shinobi nations. It was not only due to the fact that the Four-Tails had appeared and wreaked havoc on a decent chunk of Konoha but due to the deaths of certain individuals.

Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage of the Village Hidden in Stone had perished during the attack.

Such an event should have caused Iwagakure to take up arms against us since he had died within our custody and it wasn't like Iwa and Konoha ever had good relations. Thankfully, Minato along with Hiruzen and the advisors flipped the script.

The Third Tsuchikage died heroically defending the Leaf against the Four-Tail's rampage because he felt responsible for the attack since Iwagakure was supposed to be in control of Son. He dove into the mouth of the Four-tails with no regards for his safety and committed suicide by using his **Dust Release** while inside. The Four-Tails died as a result and dispersed.

Obviously, that story was a load of bullshit.

However, it prevented Konoha's and Iwa's already fragile relations from completely fracturing and transforming into war. Maybe the higher-ups of that village knew what Onoki had been planning by coming here, or maybe they didn't, but it didn't matter as the common Iwa shinobi and civilian _definitely_ didn't.

As a result of their Tsuchikage being such a selfless hero, they were able to quell any rage they may have had in their heart. If the higher-ups did, in fact, know what Onoki had been planning by coming here, they would keep quiet as to not tarnish the brilliant light that had been shone upon their Tsuchikage in the eyes of the civilians and shinobi alike. Besides, even if they wanted to try and go against us, they wouldn't be able to overcome the vast gap in power between Konoha and them.

The story was _very_ of outlandish and any reasonable person would find it highly unlikely, but it was the kind of thing that resonated with the common folk. It brought about a sense of pride and nationalism in the people of Iwagakure.

As for Kumo, we didn't do anything special for them.

Kumo was the kind of country to take a yard after being given an inch. If we were to say that their shinobi died heroically for Konoha, they would probably ask us to send them some nice gift wrapped Main Branch Hyuga members as compensation and hell, why not add some Uchiha in the mix.

As a result, Konoha publicly rebuked Kumo, detailing how their shinobi had tried to not only kidnap a baby Hyuga member, but also the _Hokage's_ own daughter. Of course, they could deny it as there was no proof, but contrasting with how Konoha had uplifted the Tsuchikage's name, people were now more inclined to believe that Kumo had been up to no good instead of Konoha trying to tarnish its name.

As for the reason why Iwagakure and Kumogakure had even come here in the first place, well I got the answer from that Kumo shinobi I had…questioned. He wasn't some high up shinobi but from what he knew, certain elders of Kumo had gotten wind of some news that the 4-Tails would appear in Konoha. In addition, they had been sure that the Ninetails would be released in the middle of the village as well which would increase the destruction manifold. The 4-Tails appearing would be the signal that the Fourth Hokage was held up in some way while Kumo had already known that the Third Hokage would be held up by the Tsuchikage.

They had seemed so sure of this that they had sent a delegation under the guise of "peace talks" to Konoha who were to act as some kind of Trojan horse and attack us from within once the Son went on his rampage. With all the Konoha shinobi being busy trying to save people or defend the village, Kumo could walk around like it was their playing ground and snag up whatever Kekkei Genkai they fancied. They also had learned about Mito's lineage and had sought to capture her as well. The plan was that the Ninetails would flatten Konoha and they would have the only host that could possibly contain its power. Once they secured an Uzumaki, Kumo could rebuild the clan within its walls and would be able to keep possession of the Ninetails.

There were just so many benefits to them that it must have seemed like a gift.

The best part for them was that even if it _did_ fail, the most they would lose was a few expendable soldiers. Sure, tensions would drastically increase between Konoha and Kumo as a result of the plan failing, but no one wanted another shinobi world war _just_ after having gone through the 3rd one.

They were betting on that.

And they were more or less correct. Konoha truly didn't want to start another war, especially not now, only a few days after the attack.

Low risk and high reward.

No wonder they dared to do it.

Similar information was found from the captured Iwa shinobi and it was reinforced by the Kumo shinobi that Hizashi had incapacitated.

There was still one issue which was no doubt creeping up on every single shinobi village's mind and was the most important consequence of the "Four-Tails Attack"…

Konoha obtained another Bijuu.

That made 3.

While our story had said that the Tsuchikage had killed himself while bringing Son Goku with him to the grave, the higher-ups of all major shinobi villages no doubt knew how much the Tsuchikage hated us and knew that our story was bullshit. As a result, they also knew that we had most likely found a new host for the Bijuu, they just didn't know who it was.

Of course, the common people didn't know any of that and as long as Konoha didn't start aggressively expanding or something, the other villages wouldn't risk fighting us outright. The scales had almost always been tipped in Konoha's favor and the introduction of Isobu and Son Goku only made it even more skewed in our favor. Unless they were willing to risk absolutely everything and allied together against us, there was nothing they would do.

Konoha had become too strong.

Of course, no one in Konoha was complaining.

All in all, everything was alright.

However, there was one thing that still weighed on the minds of Konoha's higher-ups…

" _Madara…huh?"_ I thought as I made my way through the broken and dilapidated streets of central Konoha. The mood was somber and tense around this area as people no doubt envisioned the devastation that had occurred only a few days prior.

I truly wish it had been Madara responsible for this.

Was that odd?

It was the answer that would set my mind at ease the most. At least in that case scenario, it would be well understood his motives for attacking us. It would also explain how he knew so much about Konoha…

But then again if I had actually faced Madara, no amount of **[Second Wind]** would have saved my life…

I shook my head. " _I need more information."_

Telling Minato and Kushina?

Rin and Kakashi?

That what? The person they thought of as a son, boyfriend or brother was responsible for causing hundreds of deaths in their home? And that he had been aiming to potentially kill Minato and Kushina? And everyone else in the rest of the village?

I may have little emotional capacity, but I wasn't insensitive nor was I stupid. Saying something like that with no visual evidence and after such a situation had occurred in the village…

Yeah, they wouldn't take it too kindly.

That's not even mentioning how few actions they could really take in the wake of my hypothesis that may or may not be correct. They wouldn't have time to focus on him anyway and even if they did, how would they find him?

And if they did, then what?

Would Minato be able to kill his student in cold blood?

When people thought about Minato, they saw a perfect individual.

Someone without a flaw.

Someone who could do no wrong.

And that was _precisely_ his flaw.

The knowledge that not only had he failed to save his student but that that same student had turned on him and the village…it would be his greatest failure.

Who knew how he would feel.

I shook my head from those superfluous thoughts.

I focused a little bit and was able to sense a _faint_ induction of my **Amenotokotachi** marker somewhere in the Northern part of the continent.

When I had hit the Masked Man with my **Rasengan** , I had implanted my **Amenotokotachi** marker on his back on the off chance that he would somehow escape my attacks as he had done _countless_ times prior.

With the marker, I could sense his general location. That being said, because I wasn't as incredible in space-time fuuinjutsu as Minato, my **Amenotokotachi** 's teleportation range was limited. I couldn't just switch places with anyone anywhere around the world that had my marker.

I could let Minato know but not only was he busy as of now, if the Masked Man was really who I thought it was…

Then I would take this into my own hands.

I sighed as I looked up at the sky. "Why do things have to be so needlessly complicated?"

 _hiss_

"Hmm." I replied as I stroked Levia's chin as she lay wrapped around my left arm. "I suppose life is quite complex in and of itself…"

The albino snake wrapped herself tighter around my arm before closing her eyes and…yawning?

I shook my head while smirking. "You lazy snake."

I idly scratched her chin.

With that, I continued on towards my destination.

I needed info the Masked Man was and some defining confirmation of his identity. As a result, the first order of action was to visit Orochimaru and see what he had gleaned from the arm that had fallen off the Masked Man.

And if the information wasn't what I needed…

I'd have to obtain my information from a more…reliable source.

One that had been involved in the Four-Tails attack.

I clenched my fist tightly, cracking some of the joints in my fingers before I spared the central Konoha destruction one last glance behind me.

I looked on indifferently at the ruins of central Konoha.

Then, I turned away.

 **Amenotokotachi!**

I immediately appeared in front of the door to Orochimaru's lab. Afterward, I took out a kunai and inscribed an **Amenotokotachi** marker on it before embedding it on a wall. That complete, I knocked on the metal door and waited…

It opened.

"Sensei is busy right now so whoever it is, you can screw…" Anko trailed off as she finally saw me.

Then she grinned. "Hello. What brings you to this dreary place? I imagine most people would rather stay as far away from here as they possibly could."

I walked in before taking a seat on one of the hospital beds in the room as I gazed towards Orochimaru's direction. "I'm here for some answers and besides…" I began, my gaze settled directly on her. "I'm clearly not normal. Why else would I be interacting with Orochimaru?"

She looked back at me unflinchingly before she moved closer to me.

…uncomfortably close.

Anko smirked as she stared into my eyes while resting her chin on the palms of her hands. "You know, one of these days I'm going to wipe that detached look off your face."

I looked at her with a raised brow before patting her head. "Maybe if you were 5 years older I would consider. I'm not interested in children."

She grimaced, "You're not any older than I am…and _who's_ interested in you?"

 _hiss_

"She is." I said, raising up my left arm with a smile. "Aren't you girl? Though, you're a baby…and aren't you technically my daughter?"

Levia spared me a glance and hissed before licking my cheek with her forked tongue.

I blinked before shaking my head with a smile and rubbing her head. "You're just too adorable."

Levia…was that a smile?

She then licked my cheek once more before wrapping herself around my arm and remaining stationary as her eyes closed.

" _Too cute…"_

"Beautiful…" Anko said, eyes wide, as she stared at Levia in wonder. "I've never seen such a beautiful snake…"

I nodded. "She _is_ one of a kind."

Anko's eyes sparkled. "Can I-"

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Orochimaru asked as he turned towards me from his work station. "I doubt you came by to simply grace me with your presence." He then glanced at Levia and smiled. "And I see you brought that beautiful specimen with you again."

I raised a brow and looked at Levia before hopping off of the hospital bed and walking towards him. "I apologize if I was bothering you, but I needed to know if you had gleaned any information from the arm I gave you."

"You came at just the precise moment then." Orochimaru stated as he turned back towards his work station. "Come look at this."

I walked closer to him, a sulking Anko deciding to follow suit. I arrived in front of the microscope and looked at the glass slide under it before placing my eyes over the lens.

And then I understood.

The cells I could see were visibly forming a completely new structure.

"…Cell Walls."

"Precisely." Orochimaru stated. "That was just a little sample I took from the arm and I noticed that it had begun to develop cell walls where there had previously been none.

"Like a plant…" I said as I removed my eyes from the scope and looked at him. I had already known the individual in question had used wood release, but I had no idea they had been implanted with an entire arm like this. Regardless, I knew what this meant.

Orochimaru nodded. "There's no doubt about it, those are some form of Hashirama's cells." He said with certainty. "I've worked with them a small amount in the past and I saw something somewhat similar in those cells."

I took a step back from the microscope and stood still in thought as many things went through my mind. "…If someone was to survive the implantation of Hashirama's cells, what benefits would they physically receive?"

"You're not asking about **Wood Release** , but what would happen to their bodies on a physiological level?"

I nodded.

Orochimaru stood in thought for a moment. "The Senju were known for their powerful bodies and immense chakra reserves, but Hashirama was on a different level." He began as he looked towards his microscope. "Hashirama's vitality was so strong, it was said that he could survive from just about every wound short of getting his head caved in…not so unlike you. I would expect the receiver to gain an immense increase to their strength, vitality, endurance, and chakra. They probably wouldn't need to eat or drink as much to sustain themselves either."

I let that information sink in for a moment.

If what he was saying was true…

"Then let me ask you." I said, staring straight at his face. "If…someone on the brink of death were to receive his cells and somehow survive…could they recover?"

Orochimaru matched my gaze with his questioning one, though he replied nonetheless, "Theoretically it is possible and looking at this arm…" Orochimaru turned towards where he kept it. "The cells aren't as _violent_ as the Hashirama cells I had worked with in the past. It is feasible that someone could survive their implementation and heal from their injuries with little issue."

I closed my eyes.

Silence reigned for a moment.

"I see." I said.

I opened my eyes. "Do not mention a word of what we talked about to _anyone_."

Orochimaru smiled with humorlessly. "Not even our Kage? You know you are asking me to commit something nearly akin to treason."

"Since when did you care about that?" I said with a raised brow. "Besides, I'm only asking you to say only what you need to say: That it is made from Hashirama's cells. No more, no less."

Orochimaru looked at me sincerely before stating. "I take it you have an idea of who this belongs to."

"…"

I turned away and idly patted Anko's head before I made my way to the door. "It doesn't really matter at this point…"

"Then, what are you going to do?"

I paused, having already opened the door half-way. "I'll find him…" I looked back at them. "And kill him."

With that, I went through the door and exited Orochimaru's Lab.

" _But first…"_ I thought, closing the door behind me.

" _I need to give Kumo my appreciation."_

 **{-Yoru: Gamer-}**

The sun was about to set in the horizon as I took a quick peek out my window.

First, I took out a black book from my Inventory.

The **Bingo Book**.

Flipping through the sections of Kumogakure targets of importance, I focused on the higher end members of this list.

24 of them to be exact.

I memorized their faces and easily engraved them into my memory before I put away the book. Next, I took out an empty scroll form my inventory, its blank canvas laid out in front of m. My mind thoroughly focused, I recalled every piece of information I had ever gleaned from the Uzumaki sealing book while a paintbrush rested in my hand.

Images and descriptions flashed through my mind while my 'second brain' (courtesy of **Parallel Processes** ) helped me process the information I was finding.

 _Chakra sealing…_

 _Restriction sealing…_

 _Electrification inscription…_

 _Tri-Combinatory modulator…_

 _Seal Inhibition matrix…_

 _Remote Regulator Matrix…_

 _2.5 mm Brush Thickness…_

 _10 ml Ink…_

I opened my eyes and drew down the diagram that had been produced and processed within my mind. Every brush stroke and movement of my hand was precisely coordinated with the outline in my mind. My eyes scanned the empty scroll as the seal diagram began to give shape while my brain made sure everything was created to its specification…

Then it was done.

I put down my brush and looked at my finished seal inscription. I stared at its completeness for a moment before I got out a blank paper tag and copied its entire design down onto it and applied it on myself. I nodded in satisfaction as I felt the restraint on my chakra and the other aspects of the seal activating.

With that complete, I destroyed the seal tag and stood up. "Levia, let's go."

 _Hiss_

She slithered up my leg and around my body before resting around my arm. I had needed to place her down while working on my seal on the off chance that I would screw up.

With that complete…

 **ID Create: Empty!**

The reality was overlapped.

I looked around my **ID** equivalent home before walking outside and taking to the skies.

Even though I had obtained the information I wanted from Orochimaru, I still needed more. I wanted to know what the Masked Man's plans were, who he was associated with, and any other pieces of information I could glean about his movements.

As I was now, I didn't believe I would be able to beat him in a rematch. It wasn't even because I thought he was stronger, but it was because his ability was the most obnoxious thing I had ever had to face. I had no way to counter it as of now, but that would not be the case in the future. Now, at the very least, I wanted to understand him better.

As for Kumo…

They had no doubt colluded with him in attacking the village. This was made even more evident by how they had promptly shut down their borders and increased their security and vigilance following the Four-Tails attack. It stood to reason that their higher-ups, at the very least, would know something about him that would be useful to me.

That being said, I only had a single target in mind.

The Raikage was a no go since I wasn't clear on his full power. I only knew that Minato had complimented his strength and that was enough for me to stay clear for now.

That likewise applied to their Eight-Tails Jinchuuriki.

As for the other higher up individuals of the **Kumo Council** …

Their being alive was something I was going to rectify.

Along with that thought process, the Land of Lightning's border appeared within my view. I could see the numerous mountain ranges that were erect in the distance and I had to fly a little bit higher due to this place's much greater elevation. I scanned the beautiful landscape below before my eyes focused ahead towards the expansive topography.

With my immensely improved vision, I could see the outlines of buildings and other structures around 10 kilometers away. They were located on a chain of closely interconnected mountains that seemed to have been altered artificially.

It took me only a few moments to approach the area after which I dropped down onto the base of one of the mountains. Around me I could see houses and other structures built on or into the bottom and top areas of the mountains. I turned my gaze to the north and saw a glass dome like structure built into the highest mountain peak.

" _Raikage's office…"_ I thought before looking around once more.

I didn't want to suddenly appear in the middle of nowhere. I also needed to hide my chakra signature in order to prevent Kumo's sensors from catching onto me.

It was a good thing I had perfect chakra control.

With just a bit of thought, I constrained my abundant chakra to a minuscule amount and went to the depths of an alleyway.

And then…

 **ID Escape!**

The dimension shattered.

Instantly, the sounds of interaction and bustling reached my ears. I used a little bit of chakra to **Henge** my irises black, but other than that, I really didn't need to camouflage myself. Next, I put on some simple clothing in order to not stand out and made my way out of the alley. I also placed a genjutsu over Levia so that she wouldn't be visible around my arm.

I couldn't sense any powerful chakra signatures closeby, nevertheless, I used **Stealth** to quietly maneuver out and around the area. I walked within the crowd while making sure not to bring any attention to myself. Meanwhile, I focused my ears on the conversations going on, expecting to pick up any sort of conversation related to my target.

"25000 Ryo?! You might as well fucking take my kidneys while you're-"

Nope, not that.

"High Altitude spring water! You can't find it anywhere else but here in the Land of Lightning!"

"…How is it any different than normal spring water?"

"…"

I wanted to ask the same question

"Haha! Did you hear? Konoha got fucked by the Four-Tails a few days ago!"

"No way…for real?!"

"True shit bro! Found out from my older cousin who's in the Kumo council."

Well, screw them.

"Wonder why the Raikage has us on lockdown?"

"Who knows? But I heard that very little is coming in and out for the next few days and that all Kumo shinobi are heading back."

Interesting, but I already know about-

"…Wait, even _her_?"

I paused at that statement.

The way that random dude said that…

"Yep, _she's_ coming back as well. Not sure when but she might already be here."

"The Two-Tails huh…I've got mixed feelings about that one. Lord Killer B is amazing even though he's the 8-Tails host. I'm willing to give her a chance."

"True. Compared to the shit the 8-Tails put us through, I guess she ain't as bad."

I cut off the conversation from there and looked at the two Kumo nin who had been conversing.

" _She must have been on a mission."_ I thought before continuing my walk. " _Then, I can begin the second part of my operation."_

As long as she came within my **Energy Resonance** range, I would be able to sense her Bijuu's chakra. I had spent years in the presence of it, after all, and I was quite sensitive to it.

As I continued to hide myself wishing the masses of people, I sifted through my memories of Konoha's **Bingo Book** for the relevant information on the **Kumo Council** members. The **Kumo Council** was an assembly presided over by the Raikage, consisting of Kumogakure's highest ranking and most prominent shinobi. There were about 25 general body members and 1 president, the Raikage, who gathered to discuss strategy and tactics regarding the village. This meant that the **Kumo Council** members were some of the greatest decision making bodies in the village.

In other words, the decision to attack Konoha and kidnap Mito…it was all on them.

I didn't care how many of them agreed with the decision or not.

All that mattered was that they had dared to make it.

 **ID Create: Empty**

I entered my empty mirror dimension before creating a few clones of myself. I had each of them **Henge** as normal Kumogakure citizens before they dispersed to various areas of the village. I didn't really know _where_ the **Kumo Council** shinobi resided, but I had a perfect memory of their face courtesy of the **Bingo Book**. With my clones spread out across the village, they would discreetly search for the **Kumo Council** members and commit their chakra signatures to memory. When they dispersed, this knowledge would then come back to me. Then, after I pinpointed the chakra signature of my own target, the Two-Tails…

My gaze became chillier. " _I would reap what they sowed."_

Time passed.

Some of my clones dispelled, providing me with information on the **Kumo Council** members.

The sun began to set, transforming the bright sunlit sky into a representation of the darkness of outer space.

I continued to wait.

More of my clones dispelled

And wait.

The last of my clones dispelled.

And wait.

And-

My eyes snapped open as familiar chakra signatures appeared in my sensing range.

Tailed beast chakra signatures.

Two of them.

One was larger than the other, so I focused on the smaller one, her signature committed directly to my memory. At some point, the larger tailed beast chakra signature diverged from the smaller one, after which I followed the smaller one in my detection range until it arrived at some area and stopped moving.

I stood up and turned my head towards where I sensed that chakra.

The chakra of the Two-tailed tailed beast.

With this information along with the chakra signatures of the other twenty-four **Kumo Council** members committed to my memory…

"Let's finish this, Levia." I said

 _hiss_

I removed the genjutsu over her.

Next, I used **Henge** to put on my Anbu gear, except instead of wearing a mask, I pulled up the cloth from my **Henge** shirt to cover up the bottom portion of my face, similar to Kakashi's face mask.

" _It's been a while since I wore this…"_ I thought.

My Anbu mask was unnecessary in this operation.

After all…

No one I faced today would live to see another day

 **ID Create: Empty**

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

A bubble of reality overlapped the current one.

The sky gained a reddish hue.

The moon turned blood red.

Yoru tore his gaze from the blood moon and concentrated it towards the direction of the closest **Kumo Council** shinobi member. He kicked his feet off the ground and scaled numerous buildings before he landed on his target's roof. With a light stomp, Yoru destroyed the roof of the house and made his way down towards the room where he had last sensed this individual's chakra signature.

With Yoru's acute chakra detection capabilities, he was able to pinpoint a target's exact topographical location. In no time, Yoru found himself in a bedroom and looked around before focusing on the bed, noticing that it was in disarray.

 **ID Escape**

The reality of the mirror world shattered like glass and immediately after, Yoru could hear the lascivious moans and groans of copulation coming from the bed. Suddenly, the moans grew in intensity as if they were reaching a climax to which Yoru simply pointed two fingers at them. While Yoru had no idea who the woman in bed with his target was...It didn't matter.

" _At the very least you'll be sent off in bliss."_

 **Storm Style: Laser Finger**

Two beams shot out from Yoru's finger and penetrated the heads of the bed's occupants, killing them instantly.

Yoru then furrowed his brows, " _If I use Jutsu too often, Kumo's sensors will catch on to me quickly."_

Despite this, Yoru pinpointed his next target. " _1 down, 23 more to go."_

 **ID Create: Empty!**

Yoru blasted out of the room's window and landed on a building across the street. He then ran horizontally across the side of the structure before looking to his Northwest. Yoru crouched low and jumped off the building before crashing through the glass window of the establishment across the street.

With a neat tuck and roll, Yoru stood up.

 **ID Escape**

Just as the mirror dimension shattered, Yoru launched out his fist, impacting the back of his other target and fracturing it. The enemy arched back in pain, but before he even got the opportunity to scream, Yoru clamped his mouth shut with his hand.

"I'm curious." Yoru began as he whispered behind the man's ear. "Did you truly believe your decision to target my adorable Mito would go unpunished?"

It took a moment before the man's body shuddered in trepidation.

Utilizing his **Steel Release** , Yoru coated his free arm in the energy-based metallic substance after straightening his hand.

"Well, It doesn't really matter."

Abruptly, Yoru's hand pierced through his back and chest, a sickening squelching sound echoing through the small room in response. Eyes wide, the Kumo Shinobi trembled for a moment before losing all signs of life.

Yoru unceremoniously let the man's body plop to the ground and used **Water Release** and **Magnet Release** to rid the blood from his arm.

His silver eyes gleamed in the shadows as he gazed in the direction of his next target.

 **ID Create: Empty**

He vanished from view.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

An idle Kumo Shinobi patrolled the dark night streets of Kumogakure. There was nothing out of place and everything seemed nice and peaceful…

Until a scream pierced through midnight's previously silent atmosphere.

The Kumo Shinobi perked up and looked towards the source of the commotion at the building across the street from him. With a simple leap, he scaled the distance between him and the source of the disturbance and landed on the side of the building.

As the screams of terror turned into weeps of fear, the Kumo Shinobi forced his way through the glass windows of the buildings and broke through the door to the room.

Before he paused.

Eyes wide, he stared down at the headless corpse of one of the shinobi of the **Kumo Council**. Hovering over the body was a woman with tears in her eyes who let out intermittent hiccups of sobs.

"What…!" The Kumo Shinobi began.

Around him suddenly appeared the forms of a few Kumo Anbu, the leader of which quickly took stock of the situation.

"Lord Zee had been killed as well." He stated before looking at the normal Kumo Shinobi who had been here before him. "You, what happened here?"

"I-I have no clue!" He said as he nervously looked at the corpse of the man on the floor. "When I came here he was already…"

"I see." The Kumo Anbu Captain stated before motioning to his two other compatriots. One of them moved the screaming and kicking woman away while the other covered the body of Zee with a white cloth before nodding at the leader.

"Get his wife someplace safe. We'll question her when she calms down." The Anbu Captain stated before he moved to leave.

"Wait!" The patrolling Kumo Shinobi stated. " ' _As well'_?" He reiterated questioningly. "Who else has been killed? What is going on!?"

The Anbu captain gave him a side glance and paused for a while before deciding to explain. "Someone has been targeting the members of the **Kumo Council**. We got a distress call after someone walked in on the bleeding corpse of one of them." He turned towards the corpse of Zee "So far, 19 bodies have been found and this makes the 20th case so far."

The Kumo Shinobi's eyes widened marginally and his heart beat violently in his chest. "W-Why? Why would anyone want to target them?"

At this, the Kumo Anbu leader didn't reply for a moment before instead simply stating. "Go home for the night kid. The Anbu will be taking over tonight's security and patrol."

The Kumo Shinobi was at a loss of words, but noticing the gravity behind the Anbu Captain's tone, he acquiesced. With **Body Flicker** , he vanished in a burst of lightning.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

"Took them long enough to catch onto me, wouldn't you agree?" Yoru stated as he gazed at the woman who he was holding up high, a single hand around her throat. The woman gasped at any chance for air, yet for all her efforts, she was rewarded with Yoru squeezing her neck tighter. Veins bulged from her neck and temple as she struggled and flailed in an attempt to inhale the oxygen in the atmosphere.

Yoru tilted his head as he sensed the chakra signatures heading towards his direction. It seems like Kumo had figured out the patterns of his attacks or more accurately, they had found out the demographic he was targeting.

" _More importantly…"_ Yoru thought as he focused on the chakra signatures of the last 3 **Kumo Council** members he had planned to target. Out of the 26 members of the **Kumo Shinobi Council** (including the Raikage), Yoru had decided to only ignore Ay, the Fourth Raikage, and Bee, the 8-Tails Jinchuuriki, leaving him with a total hit list of 24 people. So far, he had killed 20-

A vicious _snap_ sound echoed in the room.

-21 of them.

Yoru tossed the corpse of the Kumo Council ninja aside as he realized that the last three members of Kumo's Shinobi Council were being escorted together towards the same area. Additionally, that area was currently being guarded by what seemed to be over a dozen Anbu level chakra signatures in addition to two _very_ powerful Kage level chakra signatures.

" _The Raikage and Bee…"_ Yoru thought to himself. " _I have to get to those three before they make it there."_

 **ID Create: Empty**

No sooner had Yoru escaped into his **ID** did a squad of Kumo Anbu burst into the room. They immediately noted the broken, battered, and dead form of the **Kumo Council** member. Looking around the room, the Anbu Captain of this squad realized something. "The signs of struggle are practically non-evident…" he then looked down at the corpse. "Lady Kay wasn't even able to put up a fight before she died."

He glanced at her for a moment longer before signaling to his teammates to cover her body with a cloth.

" _The enemy is strong…and frighteningly skilled."_

* * *

Yoru rocketed off the structures in his **ID** as he rapidly made his way to intercept those last three **Kumo Council** shinobi. Buildings collapsed from the force generated from his movement as he zoomed in towards his target. With one more leap, he launched himself through the air before he brutally landed on the ground, spiderweb cracks spreading through the stone-made earth.

 **ID Escape**

Reality shattered like glass.

There was an extremely brief pause as Yoru suddenly appeared in front of the group of Kumo Anbu that had been escorting the three **Kumo Council** members.

 **Sage Transformation (Mode)!**

Yoru lifted his head, his golden slitted eyes staring into his enemy's. "Rejoice."

Faster than the Kumo Anbu could react, the ethereal snakes of white energy formed from Yoru's **Sage Transformation** chakra shroud shot out with immense speed. With violent _hisses_ , the snakes pierced through the hearts of the Kumo Anbu members, killing them instantly.

"You get to witness my magnificence before you die."

The three remaining members of the Kumo Shinobi Council widened their eyes at the sudden and drastic change in the situation, however, they were professional. Quickly getting over their momentary shock, they immediately dashed forward towards Sage Yoru, realizing that their only hope of survival was to take his life.

Responding to their aggressive assault, Yoru promptly retracted his energy snakes and slightly leaned back, narrowly dodging the blade that had been aimed at his eyes. With his immensely augmented speed, Yoru shot out his arm and grabbed onto the hand of the enemy that had just launched the attack.

In a vicious maneuver, Yoru snapped the man's wrist before twisting the enemy's hand behind his back. In a fluid motion, Yoru then pushed him into the path of another attacking Kumo shinobi causing both of them to tumble off balance.

The third attacking shinobi suddenly appeared on Yoru's side.

"Die!" The Kumo Ninja screamed as he brought down his lightning coated tanto to bisect Yoru.

Sage Yoru looked at him in disinterest.

Before the Kumo Shinobi could rejoice at his tanto making contact with Yoru's shoulder…

 **Steel Release!**

It snapped.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

Using this moment, Yoru shot out five of his energy snakes to ensnare his opponent in the air.

"Foolish."

The sickening squelch of flesh being pierced resonated throughout the surroundings.

Yoru looked the man in the eye before pulling out his hand, a heart within his grasp. "All who are foolish enough to face me…" Yoru began before tossing away the organ like trash. "Do not truly understand the value of life."

Yoru released the man, causing his body to plop to the ground before he slightly turned his head to the side. "And where do you two believe you are going?"

9 energy born snakes shot out from Yoru and entangled the remaining two Kumo Council Shinobi who had tried to escape. They writhed in terror as they were captured while the white ethereal snakes of natural energy stared down at them with a _hiss_.

"Wait don't-!"

"Please, sa-!"

Before they could complete their sentences, they suddenly screamed out in pain as their necks were bitten by Yoru's natural energy snakes. From the site of the bite, the bodies of the two Kumo shinobi began to petrify as their bodies turned to stone. The petrification spread throughout their entire body as they were continually pumped with wild, unfiltered natural energy. As the last bit of noise left their mouth, their bodies became completely frozen, leaving their face in a perpetual expression of utmost terror and despair.

Yoru looked back at them blandly and released the hold his ethereal snakes had on them before he looked to the distance.

"It's much too late."

Gravity did its job as the two Kumo shinobi were unceremoniously dropped on the ground, the force of which caused their bodies to shatter apart.

Silence reigned.

Yoru turned to see the outlines of the rapidly approaching Anbu in the distance-

 **ID Create: Empty**

And vanished.

A platoon of Anbu suddenly appeared around the area, the leader of which surveyed the area. He paused as he saw the corpses of the three **Kumo Council** members. "Dammit! Lord Jay, Lady Elle, and Lord Tee…"

His gaze hidden underneath his mask was solemn as he ordered the Anbu around. "Two of you quickly cover up and transport their bodies! The rest of you need to go assist Lord Ay and Lord Bee! If the enemy is bold enough to kill 24 of our own in our territory, there's no telling what he wouldn't do!"

There were no arguments as the Anbu moved to fulfill their assigned roles all the while the Anbu Captain remained helpless as to stop any more slaughter from occurring. He gripped his fists as he looked towards the distance where the Fourth Raikage and Killer B were currently located.

" _At the very least, they should be able to remain safe…"_

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

Yoru leaped off the ground, the earth cracking under the force of his legs as he bolted towards the area the Two-Tailed jinchuuriki was staying at. He had pinpointed precisely where her chakra signature was located before entering the **Empty ID**. As the form of a luxurious mountainside building encroached upon his vision, Yoru mentally mapped out the structure and figured out where to go as he knew precisely what floor and what area _on that floor_ Yugito Nii was staying in.

He smashed through the windows of the building and briefly scanned the small room before taking a few steps.

 **ID Escape!**

Space shattered.

Yoru stared into the eyes of his target as he sat only a few inches away from her face. She looked at him for a moment before her eyes widened, however, before she could react, Yoru slammed his hand into her throat and gripped it.

 **Personal Dimension!**

Spacetime warped before they arrived in the blank white expanse of Yoru's **PD**. He immediately engraved the fuuinjutsu seal he had created onto her body with his chakra and activated it before tossing her to the ground.

With a thought, the iron particles in Yoru's inventory floated out and formed into a chair which he then sat on.

Legs crossed, Sage Yoru watched as Yugito Nii coughed and rubbed her throat before glaring at me with smoldering rage. She stood up and tried to rush towards him…

Before she collapsed.

"Ahh!" She screamed as the electrification aspect of the seal coursed through her body according to Yoru's wishes. After a moment he stopped it, allowing her a moment of respite which she used to heave on the ground while on all fours.

Yoru leaned his cheek against his right hand while looking at the sprawled jinchuuriki. Meanwhile, Levia circled around his neck and rested her head on his shoulders.

The Two-Tails host took a few more deep breaths before she leveled her abhorrence filled gaze at the human-Snake duo. "Who the fuck are you? And what do you want with me?" She asked hoarsely.

"Who I am is inconsequential," Yoru stated simply. "As for why you are here…I needed answers and you were merely the easiest target to get them from."

She spat. "I'm not telling y-Aaargh!" She writhed in pain on the ground.

"It would be in your best interest to talk." Yoru stated as he stopped the electrocution. "Also, trying to access the Two-Tail's chakra is futile, so let's begin this amusing game shall we?"

 _hiss_

Yoru raised a brow. "That is quite disturbing my dear."

 _hiss_

"I realize that fact, however, it is unnecessary for me to take it that far."

 _hiss_

"…Ok, who has been polluting your mind with such drivel? Have you visited Orochimaru in the past couple of days when I wasn't aware?"

… _hiss_

"I will need to have a _peaceful_ conversation with him."

"Just tell me what the hell you want!" Yugito screamed in annoyance as she heatedly glared at Yoru and Levia.

Levia and Yoru looked at each other before looking back at Yugito.

 _hiss_

"Indeed, it may be that time of the month…"

Yugito screamed in frustration and looked like she wanted to eat Yoru whole as she glared at him with immense intensity.

"Good, it looks like you're now willing to fully cooperate."

She ground her teeth before iterating. "What. Do. You. Want?"

"Simple." Yoru said as he looked at her with eyes half-lidded in dismissal. "The Masked Man, tell me about him."

For the briefest of moments, her expression flickered and Yoru could sense a change in her emotional state before it reverted back to normal.

"I don't-ARGHH!"

He watched apathetically as she thrashed on the ground in agony. "I'll only tell you once: do not dare lie in my presence." His gaze bore deeply into her own. "I will know."

She took a few short breaths before looking at me apprehensively. "How do you know about him? Only the Kumogakure council and some administrators should have knowledge of him."

"Ignoring my question any further will incite my displeasure."

She gripped her fists and stared at Yoru for a moment before explaining. "…I myself don't know much about him except that he came here with pertinent information about Konoha's defenses and how they would suffer from an attack in a few days."

Yoru eyed her and inclined his head. "Continue."

She took a breath. "I'm not aware of how he convinced the majority of the council to agree to his plans as I was only told about some aspects of the meeting by the Raikage."

"What are his plans or goals?"

She paused in silence for a moment. "There is one thing…" she began. "I was told that he was part of a mercenary group known as the **Akatsuki** and that he was offering his services to destroy Konoha. It might have been to spread the name of his group as I know that Iwagakure had agreed to be a part of his plan."

Yoru stayed silent to ruminate over that little tidbit of information.

"Interesting." Yoru stated after a while.

Silence reigned between the Jinchūriki and the Sage.

And then…

"…What more do you want?"

Yoru focused my eyes towards her at her question.

"Do tell…" Yoru began. "What would have happened to my dear Mito had your shinobi been successful in their endeavor?"

Her eyes widened. "I have no-ARGH!"

"The Two-Tails host is always someone very closely related to the Raikage." Yoru said simply, watching as electricity sparked off of her form. "It is unlikely that someone of your status would be unaware of the important decisions made within Kumo's council."

She heaved on the ground as stray arcs of electricity sparked off her form before looking at Yoru darkly. "You already know what would have happened."

"I want to hear it from your mouth."

She clenched her teeth, her arms trembling from either rage or the electricity. "…She would have been used to create an Uzumaki clan within Kumo." She looked up at Yoru with a glare. "She would give birth until she couldn't anymore and then her body would be tossed to the trash! Is that what you want to fucking hear!? You feel satisfied now?!"

Along with her shout, she broke out of Yoru's seal (more like Yoru released the hold the seal had on her) and charged at him, her body shrouded in a dark red, nearly black layer of chakra, two tails swaying behind her. The pristine white ground beneath her cracked under the force of her transformation and launch.

Her crimson form rapidly inched towards Yoru.

His expression remained unchanged.

He simply raised his hand, his expression serene as he remained sitting.

An immense shockwave exploded from the impact between Yugito's fist and Yoru's open palm. A turbulent wind formed as a result of the collision, causing both individuals hair to wildly sway.

The Jinchuuriki's eyes widened as she saw the ease at which Yoru blocker her. With no time to ruminate, Yugito called on more of the Two-Tail's chakra, a blue fiery shroud of energy beginning to cover her body in respo-

 _Thump!_

She suddenly froze.

Eyes wide, Yugito coughed out a mouthful of blood, the crimson liquid dripping down her chin. She slowly looked down to notice Yoru's arm rammed through her gut, electricity sparking off his hand. Her shroud receded and her vision swam as blood began to pour from the wound in her abdomen.

Yoru yanked out his hand and spared her a disinterested glance. "You should have started off with that."

Blood pooling out the gaping wound in her stomach, Yugito took a few steps back and heaved massive breaths before she dropped to a knee.

With that, Yoru ordered one of the ethereal snakes coiling around him to face her. No sooner did a dense amount of energy beginning to coalesce within the energy bourne snake's mouth, a bright white glow accompanying its formation.

"With you out of the picture, Kumo will be left even more defenseless. In addition to the lives of those foolish council members, I will consider me and your village even. Regard this as reparations for your village's asinine attempt at taking someone I dearly cherish. However, you should be grateful…"

 **Sage Art: Storm Style-**

Yoru tilted his head and gazed at her dispassionately.

"You have the honor of dying by my hands."

 **Light Fang!**

As fast as the speed of light, a white beam of energy shot out from the snake's mouth and penetrated Yugito's head before exiting out the other end.

A pause.

Her body stayed upright for a moment as her eyes remained wide…

Before she slumped to the ground.

Dead.

Yoru spared her body not a single glance as he looked at his hand drenched in her blood. "Kakashi should rejoice…his skill helped _Us_ take down an enemy."

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

As the last of the natural energy left my system, I looked at Yugito's corpse where a puddle of bright red blood was pooling from. "…That needs to be cleaned up. It's ruining my **PD** 's white floors."

 _hiss_

I looked at Levia with a raised brow. "Alright, then…it's all you."

She _hissed_ and slithered towards Yugito's body before she paused there. Suddenly, she opened her mouth, however, what happened next was something I did not suspect. Yugito's body began to turn into light, however, instead of dissipating to the wind, the notes of light were sucked into Levia's mouth. The blood on the floor was also sucked in by Levia until there was nothing left.

I observed Levia in interest with **Deconstructive Analysis** as her strength began to grow exponentially. Furthermore, her body began to rapidly increase in size until it grew about another meter in length, putting her at around 2 meters long.

"Interesting…" I said as I approached her with an appraising look. "You can grow stronger by absorbing? devouring? things…I wonder if I can do the same."

I thought for a moment.

* * *

 _You have unlocked the innate trait [ $ &%# &!] by reaching…_

* * *

" _Maybe…"_

Was it cannibalism if I killed a human, decomposed them into unidentifiable motes of light, and absorbed said motes of light which may or may not have been composed of any actual organic substance?

These truly were issues worth thinking about.

"How are you feeling?" I asked Levia who was lazily sprawled on the ground.

 _hiss_

"That's good." I said as I patted her head. "Although, now that you're so big…you're not as adorable anymore."

She gave me a _look_.

I shrugged.

Levia's (did she just roll her eyes at me?) Body suddenly began to contract and shorten before she became 1 meter again.

I nodded. "Good, now let's go."

 _hiss_

She slithered up my leg and torso before settling around my neck, her head rested on my shoulder.

 **ID Create: Empty**

A formless wave passed through the 3-dimensional space of my **PD** forming the structures of the **Empty ID** everywhere it passed. After finding myself back in the mirror version of the Two-Tails Jinchuuriki's room, I flew out the window and dashed back towards Konoha.

I had briefly considered finishing off Iwa's shinobi council as well, but considering the fact that I had basically caused the Tsuchikage to die, I didn't really feel the need to do so. Afterall, compared to the 6 Kumo Ninja who could only have come to Konoha under the orders and decisions of the **Kumo Shinobi Council** , it was possible that the Tsuchikage himself made the decision to come here. As the pillar of Iwagakure, his death was enough for now.

That aside, I honestly had neither quarrel nor hatred for Yugito. She was merely a soldier who had done nothing wrong (in the grand scheme of things) and I had simply killed her.

Why?

It was actually quite simple.

Kumo has decided to come after Mito, my cute little sister, someone I cared for. As a result, I decided to come after Yugito Nii, their jinchuuriki, someone _they_ cared for.

There was no other reason.

The only difference between my attempt and their attempt was that I actually succeeded. Besides, compared to what they had no doubt planned on doing to Mito, killing Yugito was mercy.

All that being said, I had no plans to take the bounty on her head. Her disappearance would alarm Kumo immensely and I didn't want anything to be traced back to me no matter how small the risk.

I did wonder, however, how much fear they would feel when they found out she had simply _vanished_.

Who could they blame?

There would be absolutely no leads as to the who, what, where, when, and why of her disappearance.

They might assume Konoha had something to do with it, but there was nothing they could work with to point the blame on us.

On a separate but related note, I wasn't really sure what I would do with the cat once it reformed in my **PD** …

Well, I'd worry about that bridge when I came to it.

Soon, I saw the village of Konoha in the distance. I shortly arrived in the village and entered my house before exiting out of the **Empty ID**.

The fake world around me 'shattered' like glass, signaling my arrival to the real world.

I suddenly halted.

Feeling around, I could vaguely sense Minato's chakra in my house, though it didn't feel like he was really here…

I followed the sensation to a scroll that was placed on my living room table. On it, I could sense an imprint of Minato's chakra along with some seals. They seemed to be tuned in to my chakra signature as they were released when I held the scroll.

I opened it up and read through it before my eyes marginally widened.

The good news was that due to certain circumstances about my identity being leaked, Minato granted me instructions on perfecting the **Rasengan** so that I would be better able to protect myself. I honestly had no idea it could be improved upon, so knowing this was quite neat.

The bad news was that, of course, my identity had been leaked. Now every enemy village of the Leaf knew that Konoha had a tri-Kekkei Genkai wielding, multi-elemental affinity possessing, space-time technique using prodigy.

Who was 11.

They had my name.

They even had an accurate picture of my _face_.

I wasn't going to have a trouble-free life from now on.

I was now certain.

" _Obito…fuck you."_

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

"Secure the perimeter! No one comes in or out of this building without the Raikage's authorization. Any individual that comes near here without prior access is to be killed on sight!" An Anbu Captain yelled out orders to his subordinates.

In response to his instruction, the various Kumo Anbu dispersed to various areas of the **Raikage's Building** in order to guard every possible entry point into it. Seeing this, the Anbu Captain moved towards the **Raikage's Office** which was located on the lowest floor of the primarily glass made tower.

He entered the room and stood guard alongside 4 other Anbu Captains before he stated. "Everything is all set Lord Raikage. All access points have been accounted for in addition to all Anbu members."

The Raikage sat on his couch, his fists clenched while electricity sparked from his form, his anger threatening to overwhelm him.

"I've ordered the village to be placed on lockdown." A woman beside the Raikage stated. She was a dark-skinned young woman with green eyes and light grey hair worn in a bun. She wore very formal attire consisting of a long-sleeved, high-collared dress shirt and skirt, along with a pair of long earrings and sandals. "What else should we do Lord Raikage?"

The Fourth Raikage, Ay, grit his teeth as more electricity sparked on his body before he gave a short yell and slammed his fist into the couch, completely destroying the innocent furniture. "Mabui, do we have any idea who the intruder is?! How did they get through our blockade? Or why they're targeting our council members?!"

"…No, sir." Mabui, the dark-skinned woman besides Ay, stated. "But if they keep up this pattern, they'll have to target you and Bee next and this time, we'll be prepared."

"Dammit!" Ay yelled in frustration.

Suddenly-

"Yo, big bro! Don't let this situation trouble you so! Even though we can't find our enemy, at least we've still got you and me! Yahee!"

"…"

Everyone (Except Ay): " _That…actually wasn't too terrible."_

"Bee!" The Raikage yelled in annoyance. "I swear if I have to hear another one of your shitty raps right now…!"

"There's no need to look so glum aniki! especially not when you've got your bro Killer Bee! Hahee!"

The Raikage's temples twitched and veins popped from his head as he fought the urge to strangle Bee.

He then sighed. "You're right, there's still the two of here." He then stood up and walked towards the window where the entire village was in full view. "And as long as we're still around, there's nothing that can-"

"Lord Raikage! It's terrible!" A voice screamed from behind the door to the **Raikage's Office**.

"What now?!" Ay yelled as he motioned the Anbu to open the door.

An Anbu member came tumbling in, distress visible in his motions. He took a few breaths and straightened his posture as he came face to face with the Raikage.

"Well?" Ay began. "Out with it!"

"Y-Yes, sir!" The Anbu stated before he swallowed nervously and paused for a moment, seemingly deciding how he would break the terrible news. "I've just received word from the squadron protecting Lady Yugito. The Two-Tail's Jinchuuriki, s-she…"

Ay's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What. Happened."

The Anbu swallowed. "She has disappeared sir! There's no trace of her in her home! No sign of entry or exit! It's like she vanished from thin air! She's gone!"

The Raikage's eyes widened substantially.

Silence dominated the room.

The Anbu bearing the news shuffled nervously.

"Lord Raikage…" Mabui stated softly. "Do you think-"

"It's not him." The Raikage stated plainly. "I've faced him personally on the battlefield multiple times. I know that if he had a problem with us, he would tell us up front. Besides, it would have been impossible for the Fourth Hokage to place one of his death tags on Yugito because they've never met."

"Then…"

"This is someone different." The Raikage stated. "And even if we assume they're from Konoha, now that we've lost Yugito, trying to go to war with them is suicide. Even if we joined with Iwa and Kiri, we might still not win."

Mabui sighed. "So, are we simply going to do nothing?"

" _Tch_. I told those fools that the repercussions of this decision would be on their heads…only I never figured it would be so literal." The Raikage mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.

Only Bee, Mabui, and a few Anbu Captains knew what the Raikage meant.

"This village will remain on complete lockdown for a week." The Raikage ordered. "Search every shinobi and civilian to make sure they don't carry the Fourth's cursed Seal. Bring back all our on-duty shinobi back to the village and fortify our borders. As Konoha is now, we will have just have to swallow this loss bitterly."

While the Raikage had the temper of a starving lion and was at times odd in his mannerisms, let it not be said that he wasn't worthy of becoming a Kage.

Mabui nodded and looked to the Anbu who had come bearing the bad news. "You heard the order."

"Yes, ma'am!" He stated before disappearing from the room.

The Raikage gazed out towards his village below from his office.

No one knew what he was thinking.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

Orochimaru stared at a syringe on his desk while deep in thought. His finger tapped rapidly on the table mirroring the constant flurry of thoughts going through his mind.

He had done it.

He had succeeded.

After some trial and error (and a lot of Yoru's blood) he had basically obtained immortality in a vial…well he would technically be only ageless and would be able to survive attacks that would normally kill a man. After already having tested its effects on some of his lab rats (Both literal and figurative), he was sure.

But why wasn't he…happy?

One of his life goals was completed yet, he didn't feel as enthusiastic as he thought he would. Orochimaru supposed It was due to the fact that he hadn't really _discovered_ immortality so much as it had been basically _handed_ to him, but still…

Then he snapped out of it.

" _Who cares how I got it?"_ He thought with a grin. " _And even if this goal has already been achieved, I still have mastering every single technique in existence to look forward too."_

And this wasn't even mentioning the bloodlines he would receive from Yoru's blood. Why he had ever contemplated on this, even momentarily, was baffling to him. Before he injected himself, however, he looked around his lab at the various tests he had conducted with Yoru's blood and narrowed his eyes.

" _I can't let anyone get ahold of this information."_

He quickly moved.

Walking towards his test subjects and the various vials around his lab, he thoroughly destroyed them.

Every file he had was burned.

Every test he had conducted was removed from existence.

Every sample he had made was completely destroyed.

Everything Orochimaru had worked on in regards to Yoru's blood and immortality was turned to complete scrap.

He was not going to let anyone get ahold of his previous research material because if there was one thing humans deserved the least…it was immortality. Who knew what kind of pandemonium would spread if people knew they could be _given_ immortality rather easily as long as they had some of Yoru's blood? Orochimaru could not let that happen for Yoru's sake…

And because of his own selfishness.

But mostly Yoru's safety…

Everything regarding this subject would remain in his brain where it would be inaccessible to anyone other than himself.

With everything said and done, he looked around his lab and made sure all his security features were in place. After doing that check, he picked up the vial with a grin and looked at it appreciatively…

Before jamming the needle into his arm and injecting the fluids.

 _thump!_

"Ngh!" Orochimaru faltered as a bead of sweat dripped down his face, yet his expression remained excited as he _felt_ the changes going through his body. The pain from the changes was unimaginable as the concoction seemed to remake his body on a cellular level. Dispute this, the hunger, desire, and excitement on his face continued to exist.

He could feel his body regressing to its prime. It wasn't like he had been too old now, but Orochimaru knew it would literally only have been a matter of time. Now, however, time would matter to him no longer.

And after what seemed like hours…

It was over.

Orochimaru began breathing heavily as he used his desk to support himself before plopping himself on a chair.

He eagerly looked at his hands and clenched his fists.

He felt and looked a bit younger.

With narrowed eyes, Orochimaru took out a kunai and opened his shirt before running the sharp knife diagonally across his torso. The knife wound was _deep_ with his internal organs being slightly visible, yet his visage grew enthused as the deep cut started to rapidly heal on its own.

I'm no time, it was as if it was no longer there.

Not even a scar remained.

As for testing whether he was ageless…

He had come to this conclusion based off of his tests and not off of any long term studies. After all, to test something like that would require a substantial amount of time…

Regardless, Orochimaru knew he had done it.

And to think he had been planning on abandoning Konoha in the past in pursuit of this goal when everything he needed had been here with him the entire time…

" _Finally…"_ Orochimaru thought as he cracked his fingers while clenching them tightly, a wide grin plastered on his younger face.

" _Immortality!"_

* * *

 **Author's Notes: FYI, for those who have been with me since the beginning, I altered Kakashi's age back in chapter 2 so now in that chapter, he is as old as he should have been when he first joined Team Minato. These changes to his age have also been reflected in an update I made to my chapter 21 Author's Notes. Interesting thing is that doing this did not impact my story in any way so I could have just done this in the beginning. Why I ever made Kakashi so young in the first place somewhat eludes me…**

 **Magnussen Osbourne: yeah, the tier system is basically the same as the one VS Battles Wiki uses, except, mine is not as stringent. From a narrative standpoint, trying to stick too closely to real life physics in a fictional story won't work too well.**

 **coldblue2015: Don't hold back with the suggestions and questions. Reviews like yours are the kind I love reading the most and at times I am inspired by them. I love when people talk about the chapter itself and give their own insights into what happened and future predictions. I appreciate those kinds of reviews a lot more than just thanking me for the chapter.**

 **newdragon2005: I might create a Vol. 2 to this story when Yoru finally decides to go to other worlds or I might just update this one story. What do you all think I should do here? Yoru's adventures in this** _ **Naruto: Alternate**_ **world will be over in about three more chapters.**

 **alpha: I mean, Yoru** _ **is**_ **only 11 years old right now so I really can't see myself focusing on his sexual life…Also, Mito is only like 5 or so right about now too, so that puts a damper on any relationship with her lol. Sure, I'll do some relationships with Yoru down the line, but not in this first arc.**

 **Justas2: Onoki is ~Lvl 200**

 **Magnussen Osbourne: All the time. It's really difficult to remember and incorporate all of Yoru's skills when he fights. This is also one of the reasons why I'm not a fan of giving him new abilities because it just makes it difficult to keep track of him. I do have a list of his skills and abilities, but trying to use a good portion of them in battles isn't easy.**


	28. Chapter 28

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat...

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Thank you for over 1000 reviews! I hope to hear more from you all!**

* * *

 **Chapter 28**

Time…was like a river.

I had no idea whether one could swim in the opposite direction of its flow.

Or stop its flow.

Or even reverse it.

But, it didn't matter to me.

I simply rode with the flow of the river of time.

And here I was now.

My toes pointed to the sky and my shirtless body supported by my arms, I balanced myself on the ground with my eyes closed. Sweat dripped down my head at rapid speeds and slammed into the ground, penetrating it slightly.

All due to my **Barrier Fuin: Gravity Field (x10)**.

Rods made from my crystallized energy, courtesy of **Ice Release** , were placed in each of my cardinal directions. Each rod had a specific seal engraved on it which allowed the energy in them to resonate with each other and create this gravitational effect.

The seal lasted as long as the chakra I placed into the poles did, but it was more than effective for my training.

I had not been idling this past nearly 3 years.

Since the Four-Tails Attack nearly three years ago, my schedule had been to simply use clones for Fuuinjutsu research and personal training. I still didn't have access to my stats, however, judging from the growth I had been feeling these past few years, my lack of status clearly didn't affect my ability to increase my strength.

Though I personally wasn't as strong as I'd like.

 **[System Update: 96.67%]**

" _Almost there…"_ I thought before pushing myself off the ground with my hands. My feet roughly landed on the ground, cratering it slightly from the gravity and my weight. I stood up completely and looked at my hands before clenching then tightly, the cracking sounds of my bones audible in response. I then looked down at my body and nodded in appreciation.

At close to 14 years old, I was around 5 feet 6.5 inches, though apparently, I looked a couple of years older than I actually was.

My white hair was slightly longer and swayed slightly in the wind.

The distribution of my muscles was _impeccable_.

Their size was _perfect_ for my frame.

And their separation…

Yep, I was incredibly beautiful.

My expression exuding tranquility, I slid my arms to my sides and crouched low. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, the fresh but heavy air flowing through my lungs.

I exhaled.

My eyes snapped open.

I took a step forward with my right leg simultaneously shooting out my right arm. A powerful blast of compressed air shot out from my punch and _devastated_ the forest in front of me. Trees were uprooted and the ground was torn from the force of my punch, the destruction traveling a few kilometers in the distance.

I took another breath…

And then relaxed.

I waved my hand, the poles of ice dissipating in response and the gravitational field around me vanished. After rotating my shoulders a bit and hearing a few satisfying _cracks_ , I looked to the distance for a bit.

A fearsome _roar_ suddenly sounded out from the depths of the forest in front of me. No sooner did a gigantic white snake pop her body out from the tree lines, 18 meters of her form visible from where I stood.

She roared once more and breathed out an incredible torrent of white flames at the trees around her, the scalding heat reaching my skin despite the distance separating us. After a moment she stopped and opened her mouth before diving back down below the tree lines where I couldn't see her anymore.

I waited.

Suddenly…

A small meter long snake shot out from the trees in front of me and quickly slithered up my leg before wrapping around my arm.

I tilted my head, "How were the werewolves, Levia?"

She stuck out her adorable forked tongue and paused…before she burped, a little plume of fire accompanying the sound.

She then turned her gaze towards me.

I could hold onto my indifferent facade no longer.

"You're too damn cute~!" I said as I rubbed my face against hers in glee.

Levia hissed in embarrassment before wrapping the rest of herself around my neck and resting her head on my shoulders.

I looked at her with a smile before focusing on my surroundings.

 **ID Escape!**

The space around me shattered like glass and I found myself in the same place as before except now, I could hear sounds other then my and Levia's breathing.

That and the sky was blue instead of red.

And the sun was its normal color…

With but a thought, I clothed myself with a **henge** and looked to the distance in the direction of Konoha. Usually I would go back to Konoha before exiting my **ID** , however, a short while back Minato had completed the setup for the space-time barrier he had placed around Konoha. It was extremely powerful, so much so that whenever I used **ID Create/Escape** or any other Spacetime technique like my **Amenotokotachi** , while inside Konoha, I would be launched away and out of the city.

It was quite an inconvenience.

Because of that, I had to go back into the village in the old fashion way.

By walking through the front gates.

While thinking about how much of a nuisance this was, I made my way back to Konoha with a few powerful leaps and arrived in front of the city's gates. The guards looked at me and ushered me in, having recognized me and my chakra signature since I went out quite a lot.

With a nod of acknowledgment, I made my way inside the village and walked around for a bit, appreciating the ambiance of the whole place. The village was buzzing with quite the energy as people moved to and fro towards their various destination. Peddlers on the street did their best to attract customers while some tourists admired the sites the village had to offer.

I took this all in before looking to the distance towards the center of the village.

That was where all the _real_ excitement was located.

Ever since the Four-Tails attack, Konoha had decided to make a statement by rebuilding and _completely_ upgraded the area that had been destroyed by the Bijuu. Buildings reaching higher than 25 to 50 meters were quite common around that part of town with a variety of new sights and attractions which grasped at the attention of travelers.

The tallest building right at the center of town was a 100 meter tall, mainly glass composed, building that served as a hotel of sorts.

It was basically the signature attraction.

People from all over came to Konoha due to its attractions which caused businesses around here to boom in both the shinobi and economic aspects of things. Konoha now had more missions sent our way while simultaneously, we experienced an increase in trade and immigration into the village.

Despite all this…

I truly didn't care much.

I turned away from the festivities and walked towards the more depressing parts of town. With a few twists and turns, I found myself on the outskirts of Konoha's cemetery and walked in without pause.

As I traveled to the graveyard, I looked around and noted the names of the many people who had died for this place. The only thing they got in return for their sacrifice was a rock with their names imprinted on it.

I never planned on having my name there.

Suddenly, I paused in front of a tombstone.

My expression was dispassionate as I read the short epithet written on it.

 _ **In Memory of Obito Uchiha,**_

 _ **A shinobi who sacrificed himself for his comrades**_

 _ **Dutifully served his clan and the Village**_

 _ **Gave everything for a brighter future**_

 _ **And our prosperity**_ _._

I bent down to one knee and dusted it off a little before I looked to the ground and noticed that a vase containing flowers had tipped over. I picked it up and placed it in its correct position in front of the tombstone before I looked through the flowers. They weren't too decayed, but they weren't as fresh as they should have been, causing them to look a little stale.

I took them out and used a little bit of **Earth Manipulation** to bury them underground. Next, I opened the palm of my right hand and concentrated for just a moment. Immediately, my chakra gathered to my hand and caused a crystal of ice to form and shape itself into a beautiful blue crystalline flower. With that, I placed it in the transparent vase with a _ding_ as the ice flower hit the bottom of the container.

I stood up and dusted my legs off.

Levia _hissed_ at me in concern.

I smiled and stroked her chin. "I'm fine," I said as I looked back at the tombstone, my gaze becoming hollow…

Time passed.

"Ah! Here you are!"

"…Yoru."

Two voices spoke up behind me.

I turned my head to look over my shoulder and saw Rin waving behind me while Kakashi was next to her with a bundle of some fresh flowers.

I nodded at them and looked back at Obito's tombstone.

In but a few moments, they appeared in either side of me, Kakashi to my left kneeling down to place the flowers inside the vase. He paused, however, as he looked at the crystal flower I had created.

"…Thank you." Kakashi said as he placed his flowers inside the vase around the one I had created.

Rin's eyes slightly sparkled. "It's so pretty~!" She said as she watched the light refract off the ice crystal flower, creating a memorable picturesque view.

I opened the palm of my hand in front of me and focused for a moment before some ice began to gather together and form into a multilayered translucent flower. As it floated on my palm while glimmering in the sunlit sky, I looked at Rin and stepped forward towards her before attaching it to her hair on the side of her head.

She looked at me wide-eyed. "Yoru…"

Looking closely at Rin and into her eyes, I realized just how beautiful she really was. She had slightly grown out her hair till it reached past her shoulders which made her appear even more charming in my opinion. Her chest had also grown with her age which was always a plus and now her appeal was even greater…

Immediately, I stopped myself, realizing that I had gotten oddly close to Rin, causing her face to be dyed a light shade of red. I smiled and separated from her before turning away.

" _This again…"_

I, of course, had always been attracted to women, but as of late I had been more attracted than usual… Internally shaking my head, I looked back at Obito's grave and stayed silent for a moment before saying. "His body is still out there."

Kakashi and Rin perked up at that and turned to look at me.

I continued. "Soon I will get it…and bring it back here."

Along with my promise, I pulled out a Kunai and twirled it around my finger for a moment while my mind was in deep thought for a moment. I snuck a glance at Rin for a moment and thought about what my promise truly entailed…

I removed those distracting thoughts and engraved an **Amenotokotachi** mark on the kunai before inserting it into the ground in the center of the grave.

Their expressions were that of surprise at my declaration.

Silence reigned for a moment longer.

"…Thank you." Rin said softly as she continued to gaze at the tombstone. "For everything."

I patted both her and Kakashi's head, the latter gently removing my hand off his cranium.

"Don't worry your pretty little head over it," I said.

I suddenly paused.

Looking down at the ground, I saw a small white snake moving about in the grass as it approached me. In but a few moments, it arrived at my feet so I bent down and picked it up, prompting Levia to stare at the little girl sharply.

I chuckled. "Jealousy doesn't suit you."

 _HISS_

"Sure you're not," I said before patting Levia's head and looking at the little critter in my hand. "What's up?"

The little snake _hissed_ a few times while I nodded along with what she was saying.

I could swear that Rin and Kakashi were looking at me oddly.

After everything was said and done, the snake _puffed_ and vanished, prompting me to place my hands back at my side. "Seems like I'm needed for something so I'll be taking my leave," I said as I looked at them.

Kakashi looked at me and nodded.

Rin smiled with her hands clasped behind her back.

I looked at them and at Obito's grave once more before vanishing in a burst of speed.

 **Body Flicker!**

 **{-Yoru: Gamer-}**

I walked down the corridor of the dimly lit underground tunnel areas Danzo tended to stay in. It was supposed to symbolize how the root (the **Root** organization) was located under the ground and beneath the tree (Konoha) where it supported the tree from below…or something to that effect. Along with the conclusion to my thoughts, I arrived at a normal sized steel door.

I knocked.

"Come in."

Nodding to myself in affirmation, I entered the room and came face to face with Danzo Shimura who was patiently sitting behind the desk. Sensing two chakra signatures: one familiar and one not, I turned my gaze towards the other occupants in the room. One was a man with pale skin, slitted golden eyes, and long white hair with black streaks running through them. His face had soft features that made him look somewhat androgynous and gave him a very youthful appearance.

It was Orochimaru.

He grinned my way.

I acknowledged him with a slight smirk before I turned towards the other occupant in the room who was standing beside Orochimaru. He was a boy with onyx eyes and ash-grey hair, which he kept in a ponytail. His most distinguishing features were his black rimmed circular glasses. He looked at me before adjusting his glasses, pushing them up slightly and causing the glare of the light reflecting off his lens to intensify.

Huh, interesting kid.

I turned back to Danzo.

"You wanted to see me, Lord Danzo?"

He nodded his head and paused before looking at me in thought for a moment. "You know, you're technically not a registered shinobi of this village: you're not even supposed to exist."

"I wasn't aware that had ever been a problem," I asked in interest.

"It's not and in fact…" Danzo began as he tapped his finger on the table, "It's a solution."

I tilted my head and looked at him in interest, signaling him to continue.

His expression remained calm. "As you know, Sunagakure is hosting the chunin exams this year and while Konoha usually sends a few teams, there just hasn't been many good seeds as of recently. After talking with the Hokages, we decided that instead of risking making a fool out ourselves by sending out teams of underqualified genin, we could simply send a single elite team composed of our most powerful ' _genin'_ and have you lead it."

Silence reigned between us.

I looked him in the eyes. "Do you hate children?"

The kid next to Orochimaru chortled with a _pfft_ at my comment.

Danzo's eye twitched _ever_ so _slightly_.

I continued. "Sending me there would be a slaughter," I said before stating. "And if that isn't enough, you want to send two other people with me to compete against those children?" Of course, I didn't really care about any of that, but it did prompt me to ask. "So, who are the fortunate individuals who get to be partnered up with me?"

It was at this point that Orochimaru spoke up while patting the shoulder of the boy beside him. "Allow me to introduce you to Kabuto Yakushi. He shows great aptitude not only as a shinobi, but also as a medic-nin, so I've taken him under my wing as well." Orochimaru grinned, "Do take care of him."

Kabuto pushed up the rim of his glasses. "While I may not be much compared to you, I don't believe I will bring down the team. I'll be in your care, Yoru."

I regarded him and nodded. "You're much stronger than average for people around your age. I don't doubt you'll be fine." I then looked back at Danzo. "And who's the other one?"

"Someone you are quite familiar with." Danzo began. "Itachi Uchiha."

I paused at that statement and tilted my head. "Itachi…? Shouldn't he be a Chunin by now? How is it that he can participate in the chunin exams?"

Danzo explained. "If you remember, over three years ago, Itachi's teammates were killed during a mission. It was due to that that Itachi didn't partake in the chunin exams."

I nodded as all that information was already known to me.

Seeing this, Danzo continued. "Of course, the chunin exams are held bi-annually and at that time, we had been the ones hosting it. The Konoha officials had planned to allow Itachi to take it alone because he was no doubt capable, but he requested to abstain and instead joined **Root**."

My eyes slightly widened in shock.

I hadn't known about that part at all.

Granted, I technically wasn't part of **Root** anymore and also hadn't been part of it at that point in time, so I didn't have the qualifications to know, but still…

I shook my head. "I see. And he never tried to take the Chunin exams afterward?"

"He did not." Was Danzo's reply. "So, I decided that in this case scenario, I would have him participate. Maybe with you in the team, he would be more motivated than otherwise."

I simply nodded before asking. "When do we leave?"

"In around an hour," Orochimaru stated. "I'll be your guiding Jounin _Sensei_ for your team, so I'll be tagging along."

"Neat…" I blandly replied.

"I want you to deliver a message to the shinobi Villages who are against us." Danzo began, a deep coldness in his tone. "Kill all those who target you, and make an example of them. Make sure they understand Konoha's dignity is not to be trifled with." Danzo stated as a calm expression settled on his face. "Do, however, make sure to put on your headband as you will be representing your village."

I internally rolled my eyes and took my Leaf headband out of my inventory before wrapping it around my neck. "Where are we going to meet?"

"Near the east gate," Orochimaru replied. "Itachi has already been called to the occasion, we will all meet up there and leave together."

I gently ran my hand through my hand and exhaled lightly. A few thoughts went through my mind for a moment before I turned around and walked towards the door. "I'll meet you guys there then. Give me a few moments."

After reaching the door, I opened and exited the place before closing the door behind me.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

"The chunin exams?!" Kushina asked incredulously while Naruto frolicked on her lap. "Minato hadn't told me about this? Why would they send _you_ there?"

I shrugged lightly. "Sending a message: 'Konoha is not to be trifled with' etcetera, etcetera," I replied half caringly. "I suppose this is a good way to end it though…" I muttered.

Kushina tilted her head. "End what?"

I shook my head. "Nothing-"

"Mama! I'm hungwee!" Naruto yelled as he looked up at Kushina with his bright blue eyes. His hair was blonde, but with bright red highlights in some areas and his frame was petit as would be expected from a child that was almost 3.

Kushina took a deep breath and sighed before she turned a pleading gaze at me.

With slight amusement in my visage, I took out a disposable plate of food from my **Inventory** and handed it to Kushina who visibly expressed her relief and whispered a quick _thanks_. "Well regardless, though I know you can take care of yourself…" she paused and stared at me seriously. "Please watch your back. You'll be in foreign territory and while Sunagakure may be our ' _ally_ ', that doesn't mean they _won't_ turn a blind eye if something were to happen to _you_."

"You should save your worries for my opponents."

She gave a short chuckle and shook her head before continuing. "Considering how frighteningly powerful you already are, how much potential you have, and how well known you currently are, I wouldn't be surprised if you are targeted the very moment everyone sees you."

I tilted my head. "That actually must be why the announcement of our team was made last minute…"

"Hmm…That makes sense." Kushina stated with a thoughtful expression. "If the other villages knew you were competing beforehand, you would probably run into some _problems_ along the way." She explained while feeding Naruto who ate with glee.

I nodded. "Not to mention the other villages could also act shamelessly and send out fake genin as well…not that it would really be a problem for me."

Kushina smiled before she asked in interest. "What about that last kid with you? You haven't really mentioned him much."

"I don't have much to say," I replied. "Kabuto is definitely much stronger than most shinobi his age, but that's all I know about him. Since Orochimaru has taken a liking to him, he must be something interesting."

Kushina scoffed. "Anything that Snake takes an interest in is definitely something you want to stay as far away from as you reasonably could."

I opened my mouth but soon after closed it.

I suppose she didn't _need_ to know how much of a vested interest Orochimaru had in me.

Before he obtained his immortality and whatnot.

"Speaking of." Kushina began as she looked at me carefully. "Seeing that new makeover of his and how much younger looking he's become…" she narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"Deary me, would you look at the time". I said as I popped off the chair. "I'll be late for my appointment with my teammates…do tell Mito that I'll be out for a bit."

I quickly walked away.

"Yoru!"

"Bye bye~" Naruto stated with his mouth full.

 **Amenotokotachi**

* * *

Kushina looked at the kunai on the floor that had taken Yoru's place before her expression turned unsightly, veins protruding from her face. "I told you not to do that in the house! What if Naruto stumbled on it when I wasn't looking?" She huffed. "Next time I should just put a Spacetime barrier around the place…"

* * *

In a blink, I appeared right outside the front gate of Konoha, a little ways away from the effective range of the spacetime barrier covering the village. Since I hadn't tried to teleport to a place _within_ the village, I wasn't launched out nor did I activate the barrier's alarm system since there would be no point. I took out a kunai and twirled it between my fingers for a moment before inscribing my **Amenotokotachi** mark on it. With that, I jammed it into the ground and stepped out from behind the tree i had appeared from.

Even from where the Uzumaki-Namikaze household had been, I had been able to immediately sense the three familiar chakra signatures that were grouped together around this area. Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Itachi's chakra signatures were clearly sensed by my **Energy Resonance**. I could see those three individuals a short distance away and, as I approached, they all turned to face me.

Itachi regarded me with a nod to which I replied in kind. "It seems like we're all present," I stated as I turned my gaze towards Kabuto then towards Orochimaru, the former adjusting his glasses in response while the latter remained smiling.

"Then, let's get this game over with."

We vanished in a burst of speed.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

Our journey to Sunagakure was completely uninterrupted. Of course, there were the occasional bandits and wild animals that we ran into, but they couldn't even be considered minor inconveniences.

The trip here was pretty quiet. I already talked to Itachi often enough and I wasn't really interested in getting to know Kabuto, though he seemed like a decent enough individual. As for Orochimaru, I usually refrained from talking to him while I had Levia on me since I didn't want him to be a bad influence on her…though that might already be a lost cause.

Speaking of.

 _hiss_

"No."

 _hiss hiss_

"Not at all."

 _hiss_

"We're almost there, be patient."

…

"…"

… _hiss?_

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, we are finally here. Welcome to Sunagakure."

"…Can you really understand what she's saying?" Itachi asked as he looked at Levia and me peculiarly.

"Yep."

Itachi opened his mouth before promptly closing it and furrowing his brows. "…How?"

"Natural Talent."

He just stared at me blankly.

"Fufufu." Orochimaru chuckled at our interaction before leveling a small smile at us. "Yoru is undoubtedly a man of many talents, but so are you little Itachi."

Itachi blinked a couple of times. "Thank you."

All the while, Kabuto remained more or less inconspicuous as he followed us while standing beside Orochimaru, the glare of his glasses preventing anyone from seeing his eyes.

As we walked closer to the gates of Sunagakure and followed the crowd of merchants, mercenaries, nobles, and other shinobi, I decided I might as well talk to this enigmatic fellow whom I knew nothing about. "Tell me something Kabuto…" I began before slightly glancing his way. "Who are you?"

The atmosphere around him instantly changed.

I halted as I sensed a whirlwind of conflicting and complex emotions swooshing around in his body and noticed that he too had stopped walking at my seemingly simple question. Itachi and Orochimaru too stopped walking while the latter looked at Kabuto with slightly furrowed brows.

Well, it seemed like he had a complicated past.

"Never mind," I said as I shifted my gaze ahead and continued moving. "You don't have to explain."

There was a short silence before I heard his voice. "I have no memories of my childhood, so I am unable to answer your question, however…"

I turned to face him and saw that his eyes were staring into mine, the glare from his glasses no longer present. "I am trying to understand who I am currently. For now, though, I am merely Kabuto Yakushi; a medic-nin of the Leaf village and an apprentice to Orochimaru."

I nodded to myself before commenting. "If you want to discover yourself or whatever, it helps to have some sort of goal to achieve." I gave him a side glance, "Do you have something of the sort?"

"…My desire is to find out who I was." Kabuto stated. "Maybe then…"

As he remained silent in thought after that, I merely nodded, "Well, I hope you achieve your goals."

"Thank you."

As the line of people looking to enter Sunagakure (no doubt for the upcoming chunin exams) moved forward, we eventually arrived in front of the guarded entrance to the village. Sunagakure only had a single entrance and exit which was restricted to a single cleft between two cliff faces. Additionally, since the village lay on a fortified valley behind cliffs of rock, the area was well defended and was very hard to attack from the ground.

"Halt!" One of the guards on the ground in front of us stated. He and the other guards wore the traditional Sunagakure shinobi outfits which consisted of blue or black uniforms underneath flak jackets of various shades of beige which allows them better blend with their natural environment. This was included with shoulders guards and they additionally wore headpieces consisting of a head-wrap and cloth neck-covers to protect against the harsh weather.

The guard gave us a quick glance before focusing on Orochimaru, his expression slightly grave in recognition. "What business do you have here?"

Orochimaru, that grin ever present on his face, stepped forward and handed a scroll to the guard.

The Suna shinobi promptly grabbed the scroll from Orochimaru's hands and opened it before reading through it. After a while, he relaxed slightly. "The Hokage's official seal." He stated as he handed back the scroll. "You're free to pass."

Orochimaru pocketed the scroll and stepped forward past into the cleft followed by Kabuto and Orochimaru. However, as I moved forward to enter the village, I felt the guard gaze at my face seriously. As I raised a brow before turning to face him, his pupils suddenly constricted intensely and he took a step back. "Y-You!"

I blinked. "Me?"

Seeing his reaction, the other guards looked my way, before their expressions began to change, and they became on edge. The sudden change in atmosphere caught the attention of my three other compatriots who had yet to fully enter the village and they turned back to face me.

While Itachi and Kabuto looked ok with their interests peaked, Orochimaru looked on with a knowing smile.

"Come now Yoru, we need to find lodging for our stay."

I glanced at the shinobi guards for a brief moment before following my team inside all the while the guards behind me seemed to have turmoil-ridden emotions.

Hmm, maybe they were having issues coping with how adorable I was? Seeing someone as cute as myself must have been a shock for their eyes.

"What do you think Levia? My handsomeness definitely shocked them silly right?"

She gave me a lazy dull glance.

… _hiss_

"Of course they were. What else would they be shocked by?"

 _hiss_

"Oh please, that bingo book entry has been outdated from day one. If they're scared because of what was written in that thing three years ago, then they might as well roll over for me now."

She looked at me blankly.

 _hiss_

I paused before shaking my head and moving along. "No matter how arrogant I appear to be, every action of mine in well calculated to provide me with the most optimal results. Anything extra is simply for my amusement."

She rolled her eyes.

 _hiss_

"Of course it is! Do you really have to doubt me so much?"

I heard a laugh in front of me and turned to see Itachi chuckling at my antics. "You and she seem to be able to really understand each other." He then tilted his head and furrowed his brows slightly. "…Seriously, how do you understand her?"

"I'm not sure…" I stated honestly before I shrugged my shoulders. "It probably has something to do with the fact that the Snake Sage bit me and poisoned my body with snake attributed natural energy…or something."

Itachi blinked. "…What?"

"Either that or I'm just a natural genius…I'm more inclined to believe the latter."

Itachi just stared at me blankly for a moment before he raised a brow as a light smile made its way on his face. Shaking his head helplessly, he continued to move forward.

I followed behind him for a couple of paces before my ears twitched. I paused for a moment and turned my gaze to the side to see a team of 3 Kumo Shinobi who were lead by the Eight-Tails jinchuuriki. I had already sensed his chakra earlier but hadn't really cared since he had nothing to do with me.

The person I was looking at however, a young man with dark eyes and short, blond hair wearing the standard Kumo-nin attire, had been looking my way for some time. **Parallel Processes** , which acted as my second brain, had caught wind of a couple of the things he had said with my enhanced hearing and I found his conjectures intriguing. He was quite interesting so I gave him a smile and a short wave before walking along with my team.

For the sake of him and his team, I hoped we didn't meet as enemies during the exams.

I would have to eliminate them if we did.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

"That's him." A man stated as he observed Yoru and his team's approaching form from the distance. The young man had dark eyes and short, blond hair which he wore parted in the front. He wore the standard attire of Kumo-nin: a sleeveless, black shirt with a one-strap-over-one-shoulder white flak jacket, black forehead protector, characteristic black, elbow-length arm-guards, and the red and white Kumogakure shin-guards along with a pair of sandals.

"Is that so?" Another man replied blandly. He was a dark-skinned man with a slightly bulbous nose, black eyes that usually look bored, and shaggy, white hair which covered his left eye. He wore a high-collared, sleeveless uniform with loose fitting pants, bandages on his wrists and the one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket typical of a Kumogakure shinobi. In addition to this, he had stylized characters for water (水) and lightning (雷) tattooed on his right and left shoulders respectively. "What's he got to do with us anyway, Cee?"

"Either everything or nothing at all," Cee stated as a grave look appeared in his eyes. "He suddenly appeared in Iwagakure's bingo books as some prodigy Konoha shinobi that no one had heard of before then. Forgetting his bounty and threat assessment, he was only _11_ , yet Iwagakure deemed it necessary to rank him as an S-Rank threat. What does that tell you?"

"Who knows? Who cares?" Darui replied in a laid back manner.

Cee closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them. "It means he either pissed off Iwagakure extensively, frightened them with his abilities, or a combination of both."

"Incredible," Darui said in a bored tone.

Cee's eyes sharpened. "And to make matters more interesting, it was found that Iwagakure's bingo book was updated not long after the Four-Tails attack."

Darui perked up ever so slightly, though his overall posture staved off any suggestion that he was actually interested in the subject matter. "So?"

"So…" Cee began. "He must have done something during or promptly after the Four-Tail's attack that pissed off or frightened Iwa's higher-ups." Cee then paused in thought for a moment. "The only issue is that no one knows how they obtained such information about him. Not even us (Kumo), Kiri, or Suna seem to have any more information than that which we obtained from Iwa."

Darui sighed. "Just avoid him them. It seems like trying to go up against him is more troublesome than it is worth."

"That's truthfully the best course of action, but…" Cee looked at Yoru even more intently. "Have you read his complete profile in the **Bingo Book**?"

Darui looked up at Cee mellowly. "I looked at his threat assessment and bounty before skipping to the next page. That was all the information I needed to realize that he wasn't worth the risk."

Cee's brows twitched before he took out the black **Bingo Book** from his back pocket and flipped through the pages before handing it to Darui. "Just read through it."

Darui took it and read through the profile before handing the black book back to Cee. "I'm now gladder than ever that I decided not to bother with him."

"That's not the point," Cee stated as he rubbed his forehead. "Did you not see his list of skills? He has access to a space-time technique of unknown function. Do you understand what this means?"

Darui blinked. "That he likes to spam the **Summoning Jutsu** often?"

A vein bulged on Cee's head. "No. Think! What else happened days after the 4-Tails attack?"

Darui's expression transformed from limpid to somewhat serious. "The **Council Massacre**."

"24 of our most elite shinobi were massacred by an unknown assailant. He/she was able to get into the village completely undetected and was able to evade every single Anbu and blockade. They slaughtered 24 out of the 26 members of our shinobi council. Furthermore…" Cee looked at the black book in his hands seriously. "They were strong enough to overpower a force of 9 Anbu and 3 Shinobi Council members with relative ease."

"I know the details," Darui stated with mild irritation lacing his tone.

"And that's not even the worst part," Cee stated with a sigh. "Because since that day, we have found no information on the whereabouts of Yugito Nii. It's like she vanished into thin air."

Darui shook his head. "What does it matter at this point? You want to confront him?"

Cee smiled ruefully. "I like to think of the worse case scenarios so I can most adequately prepare for any situation, doubly so when I'm facing an enemy, however…" he clenched his fist. "I feel like the worst case scenario that I've come up with in regards to him leaves me with absolutely no options to counterattack…confronting him-"

"-Is suicide." A frigid voice spoke up beside them. Cee And Darui finally noticed Samui besides them, their mentor Killer B hanging out behind her.

"Ah, you two are back," Darui stated in a bland tone.

"Finding a decent place to stay in this desert wasn't easy," Samui stated

"But we finally found a place to lay so we can go and sleep there all day, hey!" Killer B sang before he took out his notepad and jotted down some lyrics.

"…"

"…"

"…"

Everyone: " _That was so bad…"_

Samui ignored him and turned her gaze towards Cee. "So? What do you plan on doing?"

"Nothing," Cee stated as he closed his eyes and sighed. "It's not like he'd say anything if we confronted him anyway. Best to just leave it be. We have very little information on him, to begin with."

Samui gave a nod in agreement.

"Um, guys." Darui began before he pointed his finger towards where Yoru was standing. "I think he's looking at us."

Both Cee and Samui straightened their posture.

Meanwhile, Bee was lost in his own world…

"Is he…waving at me?" Cee asked as he swallowed dryly.

Darui nodded. "Looks like it…oh he's smiling too."

Cee took a step back in nervousness as sweat dripped down his forehead and he watched as Yoru eventually walked away. It was only then that he released the breath he hadn't known he was holding. "I have a bad feeling about this…Samui, what do you think?"

When Cee got no replied, he blinked and looked to his left where he saw Samui staring at Yoru's disappearing form. He noted her slightly distracted gaze and noticed how her expression was slightly less cold. As a matter of fact, her face was just a _bit_ rosier as well and one could even say that her expression was just a tad bit…warm?

"Umm, Samui?"

Samui blinked a couple of times, snapping out of whatever trance she was in before she stated in her usual detached tone. "…He's kind of cool."

"…"

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

"We're here," Orochimaru stated as he guided us into a sand-colored room. The furniture and decor were simple, but the room seemed to contain all the space and accessories we would need. "For the duration of the exam, we'll be staying here whenever you all aren't participating. In the meantime, I'll go register our team, so do what you will in the meantime."

With that said, Orochimaru left us to our own devices as he left the room and burst away in a **Body Flicker** , leaving the three of us here. Seeing as there was nothing remotely interesting to do in this room, I walked towards the exit.

"Where do you plan on going?" Kabuto asked as he adjusted his glasses.

I shrugged. "Nowhere in particular, but I figured I might as well explore the place since I've never been here before. Besides…" I began as I stared at Levia with a smile. "I'm interested in seeing what events we'll trigger by walking around the village. It'll be sure to be much more interesting than anything we could do in this room. Don't you agree, girl?"

 _hiss_

"Ah, you're too adorable~"

"In that case," Kabuto stated. "I'll sneak around and gather more intel on our opposition. You most likely won't need it, but it will be an interesting pastime for me as well."

I smiled lightly. "That's the spirit." I turned to Itachi. "What about you?"

"…I'll look for a place that sells pocky." Itachi plainly stated before he walked out the door and flickered away to his destination.

I blinked a few times. "Huh…alright then."

Just as I was about to leave, I immediately halted my body as I sensed a powerful and familiar kind of energy signature enter my detection range.

It was a bijuu's chakra signature.

And it wasn't one I was familiar with.

"Levia, can you feel that?"

 _hiss_

"I figured," I stated before I waved at Kabuto and flickered away.

I found myself on one of Sunagakure's main roads and simply walked around, admiring the view, however, I had a goal in mind. I had already sensed the 1-Tail's chakra signature when I had entered this village, but it wasn't really noteworthy and the 8-Tails, I had met before but this new Tailed Beast Chakra Signature I was feeling…

Well, it wouldn't hurt to check it out while doing other things. The chunin exams weren't set to start for another day, so I could afford to take this time and search around a bit.

Suna was one of the most sparsely populated Great Shinobi Village, only next to Kirigakure. Despite this, the relatively small size of the village allowed Suna to appear much more crowded than it otherwise would have been as its population density was quite large.

With the mountain ranges surrounding the village and acting as a powerful natural barrier, it was no wonder Suna's founder picked this dry place as the foothold for his village. The only real issue was that Suna was located in a large desert and natural resources found it hard to make their way over here.

It was really only thanks to the Fourth Kazekage's **Gold Dust** manipulation that he was able to just barely provide enough capital for this village to prosper. If not, who knew how long it would be until Suna became broke. This was also one of the reasons he was considered to be one of Suna's greatest Kages.

I broke away from my thoughts as I arrived at what seemed to be some sort of market place. I knew I was currently at the center of the village which predominantly contained many stores and wares. Despite this, I wasn't prepared for how overcrowded and busy this area of the village actually was. It seemed as if the chunin exams was attracting more people than I had initially realized.

I scanned the area for a bit before deciding that it wouldn't be a bad idea to pick up a souvenir or two for my darling little sis. I had the distinct feeling that she would be upset at my leaving without informing her. I mean, I had only really been informed about it last minute, so I hadn't the opportunity to tell her.

Then again, I could've left a clone…

I furrowed my brows. "I suppose I'll need to get her more than two gifts huh?"

 _hiss_

"I did not fuck up, thank you very much."

 _hiss_

"Well, I'll make it up to her," I stated as I went through various stores in the marketplace and bought a few accessories and trinkets that I figured Mito would be interested in playing with.

There was this doll that could be controlled like a puppet as long as you made your chakra flow through strings that were attached to it. I also got some hourglasses for her since those apparently were quite popular accessories to buy here. There were a few other things I bought as well.

"Hmm, this should be enough to make it up to her," I stated as I took a mental sweep of my inventory.

Abruptly, I perked up, having sensed the close proximity of the new Tailed-Beast chakra signature I had discovered earlier. After paying for my wares, I stepped out of the store and jumped to the higher vantage point of a nearby building before scanning through the dense sea of incoming people in order to pinpoint who had that chakra signature.

It took but a moment for me to catch a glimpse of the Jinchuuriki that had grabbed my attention. The Jinchuuriki in question was a thin young man with pale golden eyes and brown hair that reached his shoulders. He wore a full body grey suit along with a flak jacket which had very low shoulder guards as well as a zipper and a pouch on the upper right chest. He also wore fingerless gloves, as well as bandages on his forearms.

From the forehead protector on his head, I could see that he was from Kirigakure.

He wasn't alone.

In addition, next to him was a tall and noticeably muscular man with light grayish skin, short spiky black hair, dark brown eyes, and small eyebrows. He wore bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face and on his back he carried a weapon I recognized from images and other illustrations.

The **Kubikiribōchō** , one of the weapons belonging to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

There was also a noticeably older person in the group who looked to be a man in his early 30s. He had blue hair which was styled in a moused-up manner. His left eye was blue and his right eye was covered with an eye-patch, and he wore a talisman in each ear with the kanji for "to hear" (承) written on them twice on each side.

I glanced at the last member of the team…

Immediately after, my eyes twinkled in interest.

" _Oho? Isn't she a beauty…"_

The girl in question had fair skin, green eyes, and long auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back. She had two short bangs in the front, one of which covered one of her eyes. Tied around her midsection was a waistband with a metal plate engraved on which were Kirigakure's symbols.

The group of four talked for a moment before separating and going their own way. The woman decided to walk close to my area where the various outdoor stores were.

"Did you see her Levia?" I asked as I tried to peek through the crowd once more. "She was quite beautiful wasn't she? Of course, not nearly as beautiful as myself, but…"

I could almost _feel_ Levia roll her eyes.

"Well, forget what you think cause she's definitely got my attention now," I stated before hopping off of my vantage point and making my way towards that beautiful looking woman. "Well, I'm going in. Make sure you act cute like you usually do."

Levia simply closed her eyes and ignored me.

I shook my head. "You're a terrible wingman…or is it wingsnake?"

With that, I walked towards her while eyeing the crowd of people around me. The thing about a country with such little wealth like Suna was that there were a lot of undesirable types around these types of places.

Like-

My hand shot forward and instantly grabbed onto the wrist of the boy who had just tried to pickpocket me.

"Yo," I said with a smile as I looked at the kid who couldn't be more than a year or so older than me. With his shaggy clothes, dirty face, and loose footwear.

I could sense the fear growing within him as he struggled to release himself from my hold. "L-Let go! I wasn't doing nothing!"

I raised a brow at his reaction before I shook my head in amusement. "Sure you weren't, but I don't care about that. I just need you to help me with something."

He stopped his struggles and eyed me suspiciously. "W-What?"

I smirked. "Trail behind me. In a few moments, a woman is going to trip and I'm going to go help her. That moment is going to be your window of opportunity to put your skills to good use on both of us." With that said, I took out a thick wad of Ryo from my **Inventory** and snuck it into the kid's hands. "Here's some incentive. The best part is that you have nothing to lose. How about it?"

The kid froze at such large numbers of notes before he gripped it tightly and looked me in the eye.

From his emotions, I got the answer I wanted.

"Now then, let's get the show on the road shall we?"

Looking ahead, I could still see the auburn-haired girl looking about at the various local stores so I waded through the crowd while also keeping my senses on the little thief behind me. I inched closer and closer to her and just as we were a couple of feet away…

With a small and subtle application of chakra, a small bump appeared on the ground in front of the girl. I knew that with her shinobi training she would be able to recover very quickly, so as soon as she tripped over the rock and gave an adorable yelp, I dashed forward. In one smooth motion, I caught her from the front and gave a genial smile. "Are you alright? You have to be careful on these roads. They aren't maintained often."

"I didn't need your…" she paused as she stared at my face and blanked for a moment. "Help…"

I could sense the subtle shift in her emotions as she took a look at me, some of which appeared to be…favorable towards me. Gently helping her up off the ground, I stared into her eyes and in the same moment, the little thief brushed by both me the girl.

" _All according to keikaku."_

"I'm sure you didn't," I stated before I tilted my head. "You're definitely not from around here, are you?" I asked, looking at her waistband.

She dusted herself off. "You don't look like a native yourself." She stated as she looked at the Konoha headband around my neck.

"That may be true, but I know a lot about the rules of places like this. Exhibit A…" I began as I gestured towards the little thief that had almost completely disappeared into the crowd. "That kid that bumped into you and me just tried to score from us."

Eyes widened in surprise and annoyance, the girl hurriedly searched herself, however, it all seemed fruitless. "Shit!" She said, grinding her teeth as she looked into the crowd where the kid had disappeared from while vapor visibly emanated from her body.

" _Interesting…"_ I stated as I looked at her rising anger in mild amusement.

She turned to me with narrowed eyes. "You don't look surprised or worried."

"I told you." I began, before in a _puff_ , a wallet appeared in my hand. "I know the rules of this place." I finished before I made it disappear in a _puff_. "Storage seals come in handy in these kinds of places, especially if you're a foreigner in these areas. Standing out makes you an easy target." Of course, I kept my money inside my **Inventory** and not a storage seal, but she didn't need to know that little tidbit of information. The plume of smoke was just a little extra effect.

Cooling herself down, the girl took a breath and sighed in disappointment. "And here I was hoping I would be able to get something interesting in this place…"

"Well, why don't I take you around?" I suggested. "We can explore together and you can get whatever you want. It'll be on me."

Placing a finger to her lip, she looked at me with a smile of intrigue. "You think you can buy me?"

"No, a woman such as yourself can't be bought," I stated. "But that doesn't mean I can't afford to show you a good time. How about it? What do you have to lose?"

She stared at my face intently and stepped closer to me before smiling. "I suppose spending my time with someone such as yourself will be worthwhile." She began. "Mei Terumī. Nice to meet you."

"'Shining beauty'" I stated, referencing the meaning of her name. "It truly fits you."

"Well, aren't you a charmer," Mei stated before she subtly licked her lips. "And you're definitely charming…"

"Yoru," I stated before looking at my adorable partner wrapped around my arm. "And this here is Levia."

As if responding to my words, Levia snapped open one of her eyes and stared at Mei for a moment before losing interest and closing it.

Mei eyed Levia curiously. "She's beautiful…" she stated as she reached out to stroke Levia's scales.

Levia being the lazy snake she was didn't even bother to respond.

After a moment, Mei stopped with a smile on her face and looked at me. "Shall we then, Yoru?"

"Most definitely."

So together, Mei and I walked through the busy streets of Sunagakure's marketplace. Along the way, I took an extra peak at her. She appeared to be a few years older than me, probably around Rin's and Kakashi's age, and had a mature edge to her.

Just my type.

Not only that, she was incredibly beautiful. Even though I had **Eidetic Memory** and had already committed her form to memory, I could help but sneak another peek at her…

Immediately, I snapped out of it.

" _Stupid hormones…"_

Shaking my head, I recomposed myself before asking. "Tell me something," I asked. "How's Kiri doing these days?"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you only asked me out for information." She said in mock seriousness.

I shook my head. "I find you much more interesting than your village. I'm just a bit curious is all."

"Is that so? Well, where to start…" She slightly looked up in thought. "Ever since we lost the Three-Tails and a lot of the Seven Swordsman, we've been lying low and trying to away from the other Great Shinobi Villages, affairs."

She then perked up and grabbed my hand before dragging me to a food stand where they sold spicy takoyaki. "One batch please."

"Make that two," I stated as I placed down my money on the table.

The chef nodded and served up some of the takoyaki that had just been fried into two paper bowls.

After we took it from him, we continued on.

"But you're here now and I'm venturing for the chunin exams," I stated. "Are you a team's jonin overseer?"

She looked at me in amusement after swallowing the food she had eaten. "No, I'm participating."

What?

It must have been the very subtle pause that tipped her off as she asked. "You seem surprised. Why so?"

"For starters, from your posture and movements, I can tell you're skilled…at the bare minimum skilled enough to be above a _genin_. You seem to have the age and experience."

"It's not good to comment on a woman's age." She stated as she took a takoyaki ball and fed it to me.

I obliged and ate it.

"Well, it's not really a secret anyway," Mei said dismissively. "I was a Jonin, but my Kage demoted me and my teammates to genin due to our ' _disappointing failure in completing an essential mission_ '."

I blinked and swallowed my food. "That's a thing?"

"Of course." She stated as she fed me once more. "As long as you have some pretense, your Kage can strip out of your ninja rank. Of course, this sort of thing doesn't happen often, if at all. Usually, shinobi who fail so terribly as to get demoted are either kicked out or killed."

"Then why…?"

Mei leaned in close with a smile and fed me once more. "For the chunin exams of course."

You know, when I had earlier told Kushina that it wouldn't matter even if the other villages sent fake genin, I never actually thought I would be facing them. However, as before, it didn't matter to me.

Though, it did make me wonder…

Why would their Kage go through all that trouble just to have his elite shinobi beat up on kids during this year's chunin exams?

"Ahh, I suppose someone from Konoha would understand it, especially someone such as yourself."

I didn't quite catch the hidden meaning in the second part of her sentence, but she continued in nonetheless. "For the last few years, the trend has been heavily favoring Konoha: We lost our bijuu to you, Kumo's 2-Tails vanished, Suna has always been poor, and Iwa also lost their Four-Tails."

"Yeah, it's a pity the Third Tsuchikage died protecting Konoha and taking the Four-Tails with him."

She gave me this _look_. "Right?" She shook her head in amusement. "Anyway, as a result, the amount of missions being sent our way has drastically reduced, negatively impacting our economy. I imagine it's the same for Iwa, Kumo, and Suna."

Huh, I never thought of that.

Then, I understood. "I see, so in order to attract more individuals your way, Kiri needed to send out an exceptional ' _genin_ ' team which would capture the attention of all the sponsors."

"Correct. Here's your reward." She stated as she fed me a few more Takoyaki. "I don't doubt the other villages are doing this as well. As a matter of fact, I would wager they have people with incredibly high experience now posing as a genin."

"Hoh? Isn't that interesting?"

Mei shrugged. "It was almost like a mutual agreement that all these other villages did this, so it's not like the main competition was going to be between actual genin anyway. Showing off our ninjas' worth is the only way to get missions and as a shinobi village, missions are the main way we generate our revenue."

"I see," I stated.

"Yeah, well, I don't believe we're going to get the result we hoped for now."

I raised a brow "Oh? Why not."

Mei paused and stared into my eyes intently before she smiled. "Call it women's intuition."

"Right?"

She looked at me in amusement and grabbed my arm before dragging me all around the marketplace.

While being made to buy all the things Mei could get her hands on, I asked, "Tell me more about you yourself. Why exactly were you chosen to be 'demoted' to genin?"

"Let's see…" She said as she picked out a necklace. "I'm skilled."

"I could have guessed."

"Additionally…" she continued while she placed the gold necklace around her neck and pursed her lips slightly. "I have some abilities that may help me win this thing."

My interest was piqued. I was willing to bet she had an interesting bloodline ability that gave her this extra boost in confidence she was emanating.

"That'll be 280,283 Ryo." The cashier stated.

I didn't even bat an eye as I placed the goods in a storage tag and moved to take out my wallet, however, Mei stopped me from doing so.

"I'll handle this," Mei stated as, under my mildly surprised vision, she pulled out a small pouch from which she took out wads of Ryo. After counting the money, she placed the cash on the counter. "Here you go."

"Thank you!" The cashier stated with a smile as he put the money away, his mood uplifted.

With that, Mei took the storage tag from my hands. "I forgot to tell you that I know about the rules of these kinds of places as well." She said as she snapped her wallet shut and gave me a teasing smile. "Don't think I've never gone out to places like these in the many years of my career."

I raised a brow, though I couldn't say I was too surprised. It would be weird if she had _never_ been in a place like his in her career as a shinobi. Truthfully, the little thief had only been an opportunity to approach her. It did get me wondering though. "Then…"

"The infamous Yorudan goes through all that trouble to ask me out and you expect me to decline? Do you know how many people want to dig up your secrets?" She asked before chuckling lightly. "I found myself more amused than upset and since I found you _very_ cute, I went along with it."

"…"

I hadn't expected I was so popular. I mean sure, my name was in the bingo book, but it wasn't like I went out much. When I did go out, it was either to meet people I was already acquainted with or to kill people during missions so it wasn't like they had much to say about me…

"Thank you for today Yoru, I had fun. We should definitely do this again sometime." Mei suggested before leaning forward and planting a kiss on my cheek. I felt a surge of heat generated from where she placed her lips. "I'll see you at the exams." She then stood up and gave me a wink before she moved to walk out of the store.

I looked at her retreating backside and focused on her shapely legs, the mesh leggings covering them accentuating her thighs even further-

I immediately snapped out of it as Mei walked past the curtain of the store and disappeared from my view.

" _Oh for fuck's sake."_

I just could not seem to get her image out of my head.

Ever since I had started going through these… _changes_ , I had been questioning whether **Gamer's Mind** was broken.

Was **Gamer's Body** making it so bad that **Gamer's Mind** couldn't act effectively?

"Honestly Levia, you're lucky you don't have to go through puberty…" I paused. "Wait, _do_ snakes go through puberty?"

 _hissss?_

"I know you're only 2 but you're almost 3…" I paused as I rethought that sentence before I sighed. "You know what? Forget I said anything about it."

Levia readily _hissed_ in agreement.

With that, I walked out of the store and looked up to the sky before narrowing my eyes. "You know… _they_ are actually getting quite annoying, wouldn't you agree?"

Levia's slitted pupils constricted dangerously as she _hissed_ in displeasure.

"I know," I said, looking around the bustling market area. "I don't like the way they're looking at me either."

For a while now, a little bit before I met Mei, there had been some peculiar gazes directed at my person. It made sense why that was the case and I didn't bother since not all of them were hostile, but by now the number of gazes had increased by so much that I was getting irritated.

It was like I was on a stage and the audience was staring at me as if I was an interesting prop.

I didn't like it one bit.

 _hiss_ ss

"You're right. A few people might have to die before they leave me alone."

I turned my gaze in the direction where I could sense a particularly high level of hostility.

 **ID Create: Empty**

I dashed towards the place where that high level of hostility was emanating from and made sure I was behind where the purported aggressors were hiding.

 **ID Escape**

I saw the backs of three individuals in front of me. Their gazes were turning every which way as if they were looking for something…

Or _someone._

With my high level of **stealth** and my ability to perfectly suppress my chakra, they didn't even notice I was behind them until I grabbed the heads of two of the individuals and brutally slammed them together. They were out cold in an instant and before the third person could even comprehend the situation he was in, Levia shot out and coiled around him, constricting his body and preventing him from moving.

"I know I'm incredibly charming, but by how you've been staring at me…I don't think it's about my looks." I asked behind the man's ears.

To my surprise, I could sense little fear from the man. Instead, he turned to me with a wide smile, "Haha, you're fucked! You're fucked! Do you have any idea how many people want your head?! You actually decided to show yourself and in the chunin exams of all places?! Hahahaha!" He laughed madly.

I furrowed my brows as I saw the Iwagakure symbol on his headband before I sighed. "To be honest….I don't really care." Saying so, I grabbed his neck. "You can die now."

His laugh abruptly halted as he looked at me in surprise. "Wait! Don't you want to-"

"No."

I crushed his neck, killing him instantly.

After I let go and Levia uncoiled herself from him, his body slumped to the floor motionless. I killed the other two with a quick application of **Laser Finger** before they began to glow. They turned into motes of light which I absorbed through my mouth.

I could sense that no one had seen or noted what had happened here since it had been quick and quiet, nevertheless, I wasn't going to stay here for too long.

My eyes narrowed dangerously.

This chunin exam apparently wouldn't be as simple as I first thought. There were still a few more days till it officially began, more than enough time for information about me to be relayed and for the villages to make some moves against me.

That being said, I wasn't worried.

"Let's go home, Levia."

* * *

 **First thing's first, I made an edit to chapter 14 regarding Danzo's disability status. Turns out that he only got his bandages after the Uchiha Massacre which I hadn't known at the time. I mean, didn't anyone in the anime find it odd that Danzo, out of nowhere, gained injuries so severe that he needed to bandage half his body? No one questioned when, where, or how he got them? So you can understand why I thought he had always had his bandages as that would explain everyone's obliviousness to them.**

 **The Three-Tails was never sealed inside Yagura, therefore, Obito never had a reason to take control of Yagura with genjutsu (It also helps that Yoru derailed his Ninetails plan so he's been doing other things) so Yagura never became a shitty cruel leader. As a result, the persecution against those with bloodlines never occurred. Therefore, Utakata (the 6-Tails Jinchuuriki) never left the village, Mei never had to fight in some kind of resistance against Yagura and neither did Zabuza.**

 **Magnussen Osbourne: No worries lol. One of my favorite pastimes is reading reviews and seeing what people liked or didn't like about my chapters. As for the system update, soon is relative. For you guys, it'll only be a few more chapters before it's done but for Yoru's, it would have been about 3 years.**

 **Magnussen Osbourne: all of that will be explained in the sequel to this story. It's really not that important for the general plot of my story, however.**

 **coldblue2015: (1)Matatabi escaped and is in Yoru's PD. I have an idea of what imma do with her. (2) Most definitely. Once he travels to the more dangerous worlds, he's gonna need it. (3) I think this chapter answered that. There was no need to do it since it wouldn't change anything (4) He'll learn some interesting skills as he travels to new worlds. (5) Well, now Yoru's going through Gamer's Body's special edition puberty…yikes. He's definitely gonna get some experience.**

 **Jordan2356: Thanks for the tip! I needed that.**

 **savitarsurffer: I've been thinking Fairy Tail, High School DxD, MCU (With maybe other marvel twists), Original Naruto (Shippūden), Bleach, and maybe One Piece. I just have no damn clue which one I want to have him go to first lol.**


	29. Chapter 29

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my...

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Chapter 29**

I snapped open my eyes and cracked a few joints in my neck before I sat up from my meditation. After rotating my shoulder a few times, I **h** **enged** into my Anbu gear without the mask and looked down to my legs to see Levia asleep while coiled up like a spring.

After meeting Mei, the next couple of days had been relatively peaceful. Every once in a while, I would find the occasional shinobi spying my way which now didn't surprise me. Usually, I couldn't care less as long as they made no moves. It wasn't like I had done anything noteworthy in the past few days anyway. However, those who showed large amounts of hostility while spying on me…I made sure to remove any physical traces of them from this planet. This usually applied to Iwagakure shinobi and, surprisingly, some small shinobi villages such as Amegakure, and even Kusa…Were they all so jealous of my looks? Or was my bounty really that enticing? Maybe they were promised something from Iwa considering that two of them bordered that country.

Breaking from my train of thoughts, I gently ran my finger across Levia's scales, rousing her from her sleep. "Let's go."

She flicked her tongue and wrapped up around my arm before resting her head in my shoulder.

Since a few days ago, I had simply been in meditation. The primary reason was just to pass time since I had nothing better to, though secondarily, I was trying not to focus on the image, (that had been imprinted in my mind thanks to **Eidetic Memory** ) of Mei's fine a-

"god fucking dammit."

 _hiss_

I rolled my eye. "Yeah yeah, language."

With that failure, I stood up from the couch and in my energy & emotion radar, I sensed that Kabuto and Itachi had already been roused from sleep and were more or less ready. I had no idea where Orochimaru had disappeared off to since he hadn't come back last night. It wasn't like he actually needed to be here anyway, so I didn't really care much.

In a few moments, Itachi and Kabuto were prepared and ready to go, so we all flickered to a featureless building somewhere near the edge of Sunagakure. We were immediately greeted with a bustle of activity from the numerous genin (and not so genin) teams of the various villages, big and small.

It didn't take long for our group of 3 to enter the building where we were immediately greeted by a desk manned by a few Suna shinobi, each one having a line that led to them. We got in line and waited for a moment until it was our turn.

"Name and affiliation." The desk man asked disinterestedly without even looking up from his paper. It seemed like he was already tired of doing this shit.

"Kabuto, Itachi, Yorudan."

He paused and looked me in the eye before his expression flashed for a brief moment-one which I captured thanks to **Empathy**. "Team 10." Saying so, he handed me a small circular metal emblem with the kanji for the number 10 (十) inscribed on it. "Keep this on you at all times. If you lose it, you'll be disqualified."

Using **Magnet Release** , I twirled it on my finger for a moment before gripping it tightly. "Thank you."

He nodded and gestured behind him. "Past those doors and to the backyard."

Keeping the emblem safe, we followed the directions given to us and found ourselves in a large clearing. There were numerous teams who were already milling about, some keeping to themselves and others blatantly eyeing each team that came by.

Oddly enough, when my team walked by, the area became somewhat quiet as they looked at us…or was it me?

"Is it my good looks I wonder…" I muttered, though seeing the strange expressions on numerous individual's faces, I hadn't been quiet enough.

Not that I cared.

"Yoru!" A familiar voice called out, breaking the awkward silence.

I turned to see Mei along with the other two people that had been with her yesterday that I now identified as her teammates. She waved at me with a charming smile on her face.

I smiled back in kind.

Mei then placed her right hand's index and middle finger to her lips. With a light kiss, a ball of lava in the shape of a heart formed above those two fingers before she blew it towards me.

Sensing no danger from the attack, I didn't move when it appeared in front of me and created a heart-shaped burn on my clothing another where my heart was.

My mouth was slightly agape.

I had no idea she was so bold as to do this in public…

The silence now became so uncomfortable that it somehow became deafening.

Itachi gave me a knowing look and smile.

"…Let's just go to a corner." I stated, bringing Itachi and Kabuto with me to stay at a relatively inconspicuous part of the clearing. Though with me here, nowhere we went would be inconspicuous enough.

The silence slowly dissipated as the teams did their own thing, though I could still sense many gazes directed at us.

I idly fingered the heart-shaped hole on my **henge** clothing and smiled before repairing it with a thought.

I looked across the clearing at Mei and her team.

Perhaps somehow sensing my gaze, Mei turned to look at me for a brief moment before winking in my direction.

"Mei Terumī. Age 18. Has dual **Lava** and **Boil Release** Kekkei Genkai. Proficient in **Water** , **Fire** , and **Earth Release** nature transformations. She was demoted to genin on the premise of failing an important mission assigned to her by her Kage." Kabuto stated, adjusting his glasses and causing the sun to glare off of them.

I blinked and looked at him. "How did you…?"

"I'm very good at this." Was all he replied.

I raised a brow and looked saw him in a new light. "Then, what about her teammates?"

"The one with **Kubikiribōchō** is named Zabuza Momochi. Age 18. Proficient in water release and has high Jonin level capabilities. He became a genin under the same pretense."

I rubbed my chin in thought and narrowed my eyes on the last guy. "And him?"

At this, Kabuto's voice became low. "Utakata. Age 16. Proficient in water release. Most importantly, however…" Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "He is said to be in possession of the 6-Tails and has some measure of control over its power."

" _I thought so…"_

I then looked around and paid attention mainly to the shinobi from the other great villages. What next caught my attention were a group of three shinobi from the Stone Village who was eyeing me intently. One of them had a calm and collected countenance, another looked at me murderously, while the last one, a kid about Itachi's age, just seemed excited. "What about that lovely trio?"

Kabuto slightly furrowed his brows. "The one with the spiky light-brown hair is Gari. Age 19. A user of the **Explosion Release** Kekkei Genkai. Proficient in **Earth** and **Lightning Release** and a member of Iwagakure's Explosion Corps. Next to him is Ittan, age 18. He's a decently high leveled shinobi who is proficient in **Earth Release**. Finally, there's Deidara, age 11 and wielder of the **Explosion Release** Kekkei Genkai, also…"

Here, he paused and adjusted his glasses before speaking in a hushed tone. "My sources and investigations have concluded that he was granted access to Iwagakure's Kinjutsu on behest of the current Tsuchikage, Kitsuchi."

I tilted my head. "What relation does Kitsuchi have with Deidara?"

"None that I could find," Kabuto stated. "But he did have a relationship with the previous Tsuchikage as he was Onoki's stepson."

I kept that information to heart and scanned around the area before I found a trio of Kumo Ninja hanging back, the same trio I had seen yesterday. Now that I was looking at them up close, that blonde woman was really attractive…

"What about her?"

Kabuto blinked for a second before explaining. "Samui. Age 16. Proficient in using **Lightning Release** and bladed weapons, more specifically, tanto."

I kept her in mind and looked for Sunagakure before I found their team. I, of course, only paid attention to the woman in the group. "And She is?"

"Maki, age 15." Kabuto began. "Proficient in sealing techniques and uses a binding cloth to ensnare her enemies. She was trained by Pakura of the **Scorch Release** , so she should be highly skilled."

Interesting.

Interesting indeed.

With that, I observed for a moment longer until it seemed like all the teams who were going to participate came by. With just a glance, I counted about 52 teams of three meaning a total of 156 genins and 'genins'.

Then, it began.

"Alright, settle down because I'm not going to repeat myself." A guy said as he walked out of the building and stood in front of us. His visage painted the image of a guy who would rather be anywhere else than here, but who had to take this unassuming position because he had no choice in the matter.

"Let me make it clear: 90% of you are trash and some of that 90% will die within the first two portions of these exams because you are cannon fodder. If you have an issue with this, please leave. It would really make this entire process faster."

He scanned the crowd and after seeing no movement apart from a few teams, he shrugged. "Suit yourself. Now, I'll explain the first portion of the exam so listen and listen well. The first portion is all about Survival." Reaching into his pocket, the examiner took out an emblem similar to the one I had received at the desk. "This here is necessary for the first two portions of the exams and if you've already lost it or you don't have it out of any sort of storage seal by the time I'm done explaining the test, then you'll automatically fail and I won't have to deal with you."

I saw many teams shuffling to get them out of whatever storage seal they had kept the emblem in, while I simply floated mine above my palm with **Magnet Release**.

The proctor continued. "In this first portion, you'll be transported, by a reverse summoning jutsu, to the Korin Mountain Range nearby, a mountainous area filled with many hills, ridges, and valleys. That place will be surrounded by a barrier that will be visible to you and all it does is notify us when a team's emblem has lost its signal. That goes without saying, if you leave the barrier, your team is disqualified; If your emblem's signal disappears for even a _second_ , your team is disqualified, so don't think about hiding them in storage seals and whatnot; if it's destroyed, you're team is disqualified. Any questions? No? Really? Great!"

He then put the emblem away and sighed in annoyance. "Your objective is to survive until only 10 teams are remaining. When there are only 10 emblem signals registered by the barrier, obviously not including signals that disappeared and reappeared, the barrier will automatically be removed. At that point, you and your team need to reach one the exit point located at the north end of the mountain range in no less than an hour. If at least one of you don't get there with the emblem on time, your whole team will be disqualified. If only one or two of your teammates make it, the one(s) who didn't make it will be disqualified. Once you get there, the shinobi in charge will check to make sure you have your team's emblem and they'll reverse summon you back here using the same array."

He then walked past the team's and made his way to the door before he stopped for a moment. "Also, your teams will be teleported to completely different areas of the region and you'll have to survive there for as long as it takes. The sooner you guys kill each other off, the sooner you'll be able to get back and the less time you'll have to spend foraging like wild animals." He then snapped his fingers and walked out the door.

Instantly, the ground beneath everyone here shined brightly, the light forming an intricate pattern. The luminosity of the light sharply increased in intensity for a brief moment and obscured my vision.

When the light disappeared, I found myself in a barren area surrounded by thin tall rocky structures that would make navigating this terrain a nightmare. The sky had a light purple hue which must have been a result of the barrier the proctor had talked to us about. Both Itachi and Kabuto beside me as surveyed the area.

Kabuto pushed up his glasses. "Quite frankly, the most appropriate course of action with our lineup would be to get rid of as many teams as necessary as quickly as possible."

Itachi nodded.

Levia hissed in agreement.

"Then how do you propose we get it done," I asked.

Kabuto explained. "How far can you detect chakra signatures?"

"About 20 kilometers," I stated. "It doesn't cover the full area of this barrier's range, but I already have a lot of enemy chakra signatures in my radar."

"Then this should be fine." Kabuto then went on to explain. "If you create some clones and have them scout out, they can take care of all the necessary teams. All we have to do is stay put and wait for the barrier to disappear."

I raised a brow. It was a simple but very effective and efficient plan. Even though shadow clones inherently had low durability, I could increase the durability of my own with a bit more chakra. Additionally, my clones were just as powerful as I was so they wouldn't have trouble handling anyone here. That being said, I didn't just want to stand around. After all, there were some people I wanted to take care of.

I took out the emblem I was keeping and floated it towards Itachi who took it with a questioning gaze. I explained, "I'll leave a clone with you guys as well. I want to do my part to hurry this along."

As Itachi fiddled with the emblem, he gave me a knowing look. "You just want to see Mei again don't you?"

Why was this the conclusion he came to…?

Apparently taking my silence as agreement, he nodded in approval. "Well, don't keep her waiting. The sooner you get with her, the sooner you can stop hitting on my mom."

No, that would never happen.

I rolled my eyes and didn't bother to explain. "Whatever. Just keep it safe till I get back." With that, I created numerous clones with a _puff_. One stayed here with Itachi and Kabuto while the remaining ones dispersed throughout.

I turned to Kabuto. "Just in case, give me your hand."

Blinking, he did as I asked. I grabbed his hand and implanted my **Natural Healing** mark on him. "Since you're a Medical ninja that Orochimaru has taken an interest to, you'll be able to use that technique effectively. You already know what that is, don't you?"

Somewhat wide-eyed in surprise, Kabuto nodded. " **Mystical Healing**. An improved upon **Mystic Palm Technique** that incorporates natural energy in order to improve the effectiveness of the technique and regrow lost appendages. It was thought to be created by Jiraiya of the Sannin but…" he adjusted his glasses. "I have my doubts about that."

"Orochimaru told you didn't he."

"…"

"I thought so," I said, shaking my head. "In any case, stay safe and Itachi…" I began, turning to face him. "Don't be afraid to go all out if necessary. Both my clone and Kabuto can heal any damage you receive."

Itachi nodded.

With that, I used **Steel Release** to coat my arms and legs in the chakra-based substance before I took to the skies with **Magnet Release**. By utilizing **Magnet Release** on myself while my body was coated with **Steel Release** , I had much better and much faster control of my flight. It was much simpler than manipulating the wind around me. The only downside, however, was that I couldn't just **Magnet Release** regular humans unless they either used **Steel Release** like I did, wore a suit of armor or something, or they, for some reason, had large amounts of metal inside their body. Like if they had metal coated bones or something.

But who would be dumb enough to inject metal into someone's bones?

With those strange thoughts, I made my way towards the area where I could sense a few chakra signatures. As I flew above the sky, I looked down below and eyed my targets before plummeting down rapidly. My feet cratered the ground as I landed and I turned my gaze up towards the surprised visions on my targets who were panicking.

I quickly noticed the Suna headbands on their forehead, but they weren't the same Suna team I had paid attention to earlier. In a blur of motion, I appeared in front of one of them and before he could even comprehend where I had gone, I chopped the back of his neck. He slammed face first into the ground, his body leaving an imprint on the solid surface.

I knew he was out cold so I instantly appeared next to the second person who had just barely recovered. I slammed my knee into his gut and he puked. Holding his stomach for a moment, he lost concentration and fell to the ground unconscious.

I then turned towards the last person in the group who was eyeing me in severe trepidation and walked towards him. He stepped back in fear, but in a single step, I was already upon him. I reached out my hand towards his person-

"P-Please don't-!"

-and grabbed his team's metal emblem. I could use **Magnet Release** to sense metals in the environment and since all the emblems were made of the same kind of metal, they were easy to detect.

He opened his eyes as he noticed that he was still alive before he stared at the emblem I had in my hand, sweat dripping from his brow.

I smiled and spun it in the air with my control over magnetic metals. "I'll be taking this off your hands. I hope you don't mind?"

He rapidly shook his head.

"Good," I said as I snagged the emblem from the air and crushed it. "Be safe."

With that, I launched into the air once more and focused on reaching my true destination. Along the way, however, I came across two groups of shinobi who were fighting each other. Seeing as they weren't my enemies or anything of the sort, I decided not to simply blow them up.

I dropped down from the sky on top of two shinobi who had been fighting each other. My feet slammed into their heads and knocked them out cold. The remaining shinobi stopped what they were doing and looked my way, their bodies turning tense.

 **Swift Release**

In a blur, I appeared in front of one of the remaining four ninjas and grabbed his face. Utilizing another burst of **Swift Release** , I rammed the back of his head into the face of another shinobi before he could react.

Only two more were left.

By the time I turned to look at them, Spears of water and bolts of lighting shot out towards me from them.

I took a single breath.

 **Majestic Destroyer Flame**

The water was vaporized and the lighting overwhelmed from the energy of my attack. They screamed as they were engulfed by the flames, but I adjusted it so that they wouldn't die. They weren't my enemies, so I had no reason to kill them off.

This was just the chunin exams after all.

I walked towards their bodies and plucked the emblems from their downed forms before crushing them.

With that, I took to the skies once more.

I could sense intense fluctuations of chakra coming from my destination, fluctuations that I was familiar with, and in a few moments, I saw who was fighting.

From below, I noted Mei and was facing off against Samui in a confrontation of lava and Lightning. Mei seemed to have the upper hand in the confrontation, but I found it odd that people from two powerful teams would meet and fight each other so early in the game. The surface area of this mountain range was extremely wide and the odds of any two teams finding each other _this_ quickly was quite low.

It made me wonder if our appearance here was as randomized as we were told.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to ruminate as I sensed foreign concentrated chakra signatures on their bodies. With **Instinct** telling me that they were dangerous, I quickly dashed towards the two fighting women in flight and landed on the ground right between them.

I augmented my free hand with **Steel Release** to intercept Samui's Lightning coated tanto from above while I simply placed my palm over Mei's mouth to block the corrosive mist that was eating at my hands. Their eyes widened in shock at my sudden appearance.

" **!"**

I didn't get even a moment to explain as my hands blurred and grabbed at the foreign chakra concentrated objects that had been hidden on their bodies. They appeared as small white spider-shaped objects, but I didn't delve any further.

My hands coated in **Steel Release** , I enclosed the objects into my fist, just before they detonated violently. I didn't flinch from the sting of pain as smoke emerged from my palms and quickly moved once more.

Before the two women could comprehend what was going on, I grabbed them both and took to the skies.

The ground abruptly ruptured.

In a terrifying explosion, the radius of the blast encompassed over a kilometer of land and vaporized all of the landmarks that were in the way near instantly.

Soon after, there was silence.

"What…?" Mei asked incredulously as she looked at the devastation beneath her.

"You both were being targeted," I explained. The chakra signature of the explosive white spider and whatever explosive had been planted underground was a familiar one that I had met not too long ago.

It was from one of the Iwagakure ninjas…

Gari of the **Explosion Style**.

"…So not cool." Samui stated coldly before her face slightly warmed up as she looked at me, though her expression still seemed quite aloof. "Thank you."

"Thank you Yoru~!" Mei stated as she happily wrapped her arms around my neck before she looked at me questioningly. "Though I have to ask why you came all the way over here…Don't tell me you already missed me so much?"

I shook my head. "My **Instinct** s warned me there was someone that could be dangerous to me here so I hurried along. Meeting you here was a coincidence."

Mei pouted. "You know, when a woman asks you that sort of question, you're supposed to agree."

"Is that so?" I stated while my brows furrowed as I looked above me and saw a white bird circling the sky. I hadn't sensed it earlier because it had been outside my detection range, but now that I was more elevated, it was clear to me now. Those bombs seemed to be made from Gari's chakra, however, I was unaware of any technique that could concentrate explosive chakra in such a manner.

"…Is that him?" Samui asked as she looked up.

I nodded before inquiring, "Why are you two so far away from your team? Traveling with them would be a much safer option than traveling alone."

"Just like what you're doing right?" Mei asked with a teasing smile. "I was just supposed to be a scout but then I found her."

"Likewise," Samui replied. "We were too focused on each other to realize the dangers around us, so I once again thank you, but…" she narrowed her eyes. "Why did you save me as well? You seem to already have a relationship with her so that is understandable, but we have no such thing. I doubt most Konoha shinobi would save someone from Kumo…What are you after?"

" **!"**

I tightened my grip around their waists and performed evasive maneuvers as the sky became blanketed with small, white, explosive chakra bombs. The mini-bombs began to move towards me with a humming sound and looking behind me, I noticed they appeared to be little hummingbirds.

Numerous thoughts flitted through my mind. " _They appear to be concentrated blasts of_ _ **Explosion Release**_ _which is a combination of_ _ **Earth**_ _and_ _ **Lightning Release**_ _. How about…"_

From my open mouth came a large number of dense storm clouds that crackled with electricity. The clouds propagated around us and spread towards the white explosive hummingbirds. As soon as they came into contact with the storm clouds, the hummingbirds began dropping like flies. They plummeted towards the ground as electricity flickered off their form before they landed uselessly on the earth.

I looked at Samui whose expression was wide-eyed. "Believe it or not, I don't really have any feelings either way towards Kumo." The only problem I had had with them was with their decision-making body, hence the reason I got rid of them and didn't just nuke the entire city.

Yugito was a different situation…

I actually hadn't wanted to kill her but Sage Yoru was a different story. My original idea was to blindfold her or use some other method to prevent her from seeing my face before questioning and releasing her.

I personally had no grudge with her in particular.

Unfortunately, Sage Yoru would never stop people from " _Witnessing the magnificence of his presence"_ and he disdained to hide his face from people. As a result, Yugito saw our face and he killed her.

"…That form of **Storm Style**." Samui muttered before staring at me seriously. "Where did you learn it?"

"I picked it up along the way." Was my reply. I didn't feel like explaining how I allowed Hiruko to absorb the bodies of the other Five Great Ninja Village's shinobi so that I could profit at his expense…

She obviously didn't seem to buy it, though Mei seemed to find it interesting as she whispered closely. "How many secrets are you hiding I wonder?"

Before I could answer that (not that I would have) the flying bird above began to drop before I heard a voice from it. "I'm not sure whether I should be thankful towards you…If not for your existence, I never would have obtained the opportunity to use my village's kinjutsu." Gari said as he looked down from above his bird construct. He outstretched his hand, showing off the extremely out of place mouth on it that seemed to be chewing something. "My Kage really wants you dead."

I looked at him intently.

My **Instinct** was telling me that something was off with him.

I wasn't going to take any chances.

 **Sage Transformation [Mode]!**

* * *

Pristine white scales covered the outer portions of Yoru's face, neck, and body.

A white chakra shroud formed around him, portions of it turning into ethereal snakes.

Two horns grew from the top of his head.

His irises turned golden.

His pupils were slit.

With a thought, iron sand clouds appeared out of Yoru's **inventory** and formed into an imposing glittering throne which Yoru sat on, the women in his hands sitting on either side of him: Mei on his right and Samui to his left. He placed his arms around their waists and dragged their bodies closer to his own before crossing his legs.

"Rejoice, you have the distinct honor of sitting by my side."

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

Inside a small earthen made shed courtesy of Yoru's clone, Kabuto's hands blurred rapidly as he shuffled a deck of cards, the sun's glare from the partially exposed roof reflecting off his glasses and preventing Yoru Clone and Itachi from seeing his eyes.

He then stopped.

"Cut."

Itachi fiddled with the red colored plastic card he held in his hand, his sharingan fully activated. With a simple flick, the plastic card shot out and vertically spun across the air towards the deck before it cleanly slid into the stack of cards in Kabuto's hands.

Kabuto then moved the cards above the cut card to the back of the stack. The cut card was then reinserted into the stack of cards by him at a pre-defined position.

His glasses gleamed. "Place your bets."

"1000 Ryo" Yoru Clone stated as he slid the appropriate amount of money in the betting circle in front of him. The table they were playing on was created with precision to match an actual blackjack table; it's ridges and grooves mimicking the betting circles.

"1500 Ryo" Itachi claimed as he placed his bets forward.

His eyes still hidden behind his glasses' glare, Kabuto dealt a single card face up inside the betting circle starting from Itachi to Yoru then to him. He then dealt another round of cards clockwise around the table: From Itachi, Yoru, and then to him. This time, however, Kabuto's second card was face down.

Yoru Clone narrowed his eyes as he stared at the cards dealt. " _Kabuto has an Ace face up, Itachi has a pair of 5's, and I have a 5 & 6…"_

"You can place an insurance bet," Kabuto stated.

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Hit me."

Kabuto slid another card face up from the deck and placed it face up on Itachi's side.

"A 10 for a total of 20" Yoru muttered as he looked at Itachi's hand. He then pointed at his own deck of cards, signaling Kabuto to hit him as well.

Kabuto slid him a card.

"A 9 for a total of 20…" Itachi stated as he looked at my cards. He seemed to struggle for a moment before he shook his head. "I'll stand."

"Likewise." Yoru Clone stated. The probability of Kabuto having blackjack was very slim…

His glasses gleaming, Kabuto flipped his face down card.

Itachi's eyes widened.

Yoru's pupils constricted.

"Ace counts as 11 plus the 9…"

"…We each have 20" Itachi concluded after Yoru's statement.

With a sigh, each of them took back their money.

"Another round?" Kabuto asked.

Yoru and Itachi nodded.

Kabuto began shuffling.

"…Something's been bothering me." Itachi began as he looked at Yoru Clone as his sharingan spun. "Where exactly did you get your money from? Yoru didn't hand any to you before he left and you keep pulling out more from somewhere…actually, where did you even get these cards?"

Yoru blinked. "Maybe your sight isn't as good as you think it is…?"

Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"Round two," Kabuto stated as he began to deal out the cards…

" **!"**

Yoru Clone's expression drastically changed. "Move now!"

Even while saying that, Yoru had already been in motion as he secured them within this grasp before ramming through the shed's walls.

Following his sudden movement was a spiral distortion of space that encompassed the entirety of the shed they had just been in...

Before everything vanished.

With his ability to fly, Yoru quickly stabilized himself mid-air before softly landing on the ground with his teammates in hand. His gaze carried such vast gravity that both Kabuto and Itachi looked ahead intensely, neither saying a word.

" _This chakra signature…!"_ Yoru Clone thought as a bead of sweat dripped down his face. " _Why the hell is he here now?! The boss couldn't have picked a better time to ditch us…"_

"It seems like he did his job…The signal led me to the correct team after all." A deep voice tinged with indifference spoke out from within the smokescreen of the attack. Footsteps echoed loudly throughout the canyon as a man stepped out from the smoke. "30% should be enough to get rid of you…oh?" The masked man stated as he looked at Itachi. He had long, black, spiky hair that reached down past his shoulders and wavered slightly in the wind. He wore an orange mask with tiger-like stripes running across it and an eye hole for his right eye. On his body, he wore blue robes, their appearance similar to those that Uchiha typically wore.

Yoru Clone's expression turned ugly as his eyes glowed. " _Obito…and he is much stronger than before."_ He thought while noting how similar Obito now looked like the murals depicting his predecessor, Madara Uchiha. If he hadn't already known who he was before, Yoru would have been inclined to believe he was the real deal.

Itachi froze. "You…"

"What a surprise." The Masked Man said, though his apathetic tone belied any feelings of true astonishment. "The information told me an Uchiha was part of the team but I never would have imagined it to be you…"

Yoru frowned. "Itachi, you know him?"

Itachi's sharingan began to transform. "He's the one…" he said as the tomoe in his eyes fused and formed into three spiraling curves around his pupil. "The one who killed my teammates…!"

"You've developed such nice pairs of eyes…Itachi." The Masked Man stated as he stepped forward-

Itachi's right eye began to bleed, red veins visible in his sclera.

 **Amaterasu!**

A pitch black flame instantly formed on the body of the Masked Man, its appearance causing Yoru Clone's **instinct** to prickle with danger. However, instead of burning his body to ashes, the Masked Man immediately phased out of his burning blue robe, leaving him with his blue skin-tight, long-sleeved, collared, shirt.

His robe turned to dust before it dissipated in the wind. "I don't mind getting myself an extra pair."

Yoru yelled. "Itachi!"

" **Susanoo!** "

A large orange, half-body skeleton formed around Itachi.

Muscle grew on its bone.

Flesh covered its muscles

Armor protected its flesh.

"Hoh?" The Masked Man stated before he rapidly dashed towards the Uchiha.

Itachi reacted quickly and brought up his **Susanoo** 's right hand, an orange ethereal blade in its grasp.

 **Totsuka Blade!**

He brought it down with staggering momentum and slammed it into the ground, a vast shockwave of force tearing through the canyon wall.

Obito emerged from the dust unfazed as he a blitzed towards Itachi causing the latter's eyes to widen.

"Physical attacks won't work on him yet!" Yoru yelled as, from his **Inventory,** he pulled out four rods of ice formed from his **Ice Release**.

" _Yet?"_ Obito thought for a brief moment before he focused on his target and outstretched his hand as he phased through Itachi's **Susanoo**.

Time seemed to slow as his pointer finger and thumb inched closer towards Itachi's widened eyes…

Yoru shot a single kunai into the air.

 **Amenotokotachi!**

In a flash, Itachi was transferred out of his **Susanoo** while the kunai occupied his previous position.

Yoru Clone narrowed his eyes. " _Explode."_

The kunai flashed…

Before it burst.

An earth-shattering explosion lit up the inside of Itachi's **Susanoo** and spread past it causing turbulent winds to buffer the three people.

His eyes squinted from the wind, Yoru maneuvered the four poles of ice in his grasp to shoot out towards the four cardinal directions around the 4 people in the canyon. No sooner had they gotten settled did a clear, visibly rippling cuboid barrier encompass the four of them.

 **Kekkai Fūin (Barrier Seal): Space Lock!**

This was what Yoru had been working on for most of his time after fighting Obito nearly 3 years ago. It was based on a principle similar to the barrier around Konoha which prevented someone from entering the village using a spacetime technique. What was better was that it was portable in the form of the **Ice Release** chakra rods Yoru made.

Its only downside was that in order for the barrier to be portable, it had to be made simple. This meant that Yoru was currently unable to program the barrier to specifically allow him to use his spacetime techniques while he was inside.

Despite this…

"This evens the playing field," Yoru stated as he stood beside Itachi, Kabuto right behind them. "While this will definitely disqualify us from the chunin exams since it isolates space, it's much better than the alternative."

Itachi's eyes became more focused.

Suddenly, a light blue ethereal skeletal arm shot out from the dust cloud and slammed towards the three genins.

Itachi froze for a fraction of a second, however, his shinobi training allowed him to quickly contain his turbulent emotions and form his **Armored Susanoo** to block the attack. The blue skeletal chakra arm bashed against Itachi's chakra avatar and sent it skidding backward across the ground.

As Yoru and Kabuto were inside Itachi's protection, they hurried to stabilize him before sliding to a halt.

"…How." Itachi asked as the dust parted and in view appeared the masked man with an ethereal skeleton of energy surrounding his body. The man's skeleton soon began to form strands of muscle and was composed of everything that would make up a normal human body's upper half but lacked legs.

"Itachi, about this ability of yours…" Yoru began as his gaze turned even more serious. "How does it manifest? Does it require both your eyes or can it be used with only one?" Yoru Clone remembered that Obito hadn't had this ability the first time they fought…it would have been a useful one to have back then.

Itachi didn't answer and instead stared deeply at Yoru. "Who is he….? You seemed to already know about his ability so you've met him before…How does he have my clan's ability?"

Yoru grimaced. "He's a ghost that should have been exorcised a long time ago."

"What have you done, Yoru…?" The Masked Man muttered to himself as he looked down at his hand and found himself unable to use his **Kamui**. He then stared at the group of three. "It seems like my decision to preemptively get rid of you was well-founded …you're dangerous."

Kabuto suddenly stated. "He's coming."

The Masked Man suddenly appeared in front of the three Konoha shinobi before slamming the fists of his ethereal muscular avatar into Itachi. Quickly raising the shield on his hand, Itachi was barely able to intercept the attack as his feet sank into the ground.

The collision between the two titans sent shockwaves that caused the entire mountain range to tremble. Deep cracks spread throughout the canyon while heaps of boulders fell down as some places were already falling apart.

"About my question Itachi?"

"…You didn't answer mine." Itachi stated while he raised his **Susanoo's sword-bearing** arm. With a short shout, he brought it down against his opponent.

Right before the attack connected, the Masked Man widened his eyes and moved to dodge, but not before the **Totsuka Blade** sliced off one of the arms from his muscle form **Susanoo**. As the energy from his **Susanoo** 's arm was sucked into the gourd located on Itachi's **Susanoo** , the Masked Man created firm distance between him and us. " _That blade…is dangerous."_

"Don't think that sort of cryptic answer will do it. Who. Is. He?" Itachi asked once more, his gaze severe.

Yoru Clone looked profoundly at Itachi before turning back to look at the Masked Man, noting that the enemy's chakra avatar was now evolving and growing skin. "His name is Obito Uchiha…a former shinobi of the leaf and a member of your clan."

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

Sage Yoru's sat somewhat disinterested as he looked above at his would-be opponent.

Samui shuffled slightly in embarrassment as Yoru hugged her close while her face reddened slightly, though her expression remained relatively calm

Mei simply looked interested and amused. "What's wrong? Don't tell me you've never felt the touch of a man before?" She teased as she stared at Samui. "I find that hard to believe."

Samui slightly grimaced. "…For some reason whenever I meet a man, they seem to forget where my eyes are. I tend to lose interest after that."

"I think I can understand why…" Mei stated as she stared at Samui's ample chest before looking at her own with a scowl. " _Even though she's younger than me…"_

"It's their loss…truly a shame." Yoru said as he stared into Samui's eyes. "Afterall, you are one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever laid eyes on…besides myself of course."

The severity and sincerity of Yoru's gaze and his attractive visage caused Samui's face to heat up, forcing her to turn away. "…Thank you." She said quietly. Though she felt it would have been perfect if he didn't say that last part…

Gari's eyes narrowed. " _Is he really flirting at this time?"_ The mouth on his palm stopped chewing. " _Well, whatever."_

The oral cavity on his hand spat out a small globular white substance that he tossed up to the sky. In a _puff_ , it transformed into a large white clay dragon on which Gari jumped. The bird he had been previously using as a mount flew through the air towards Yoru whose attention was wholly focused on Samui.

"Yoru!" Mei yelled in more irritation than fear.

Without even looking, Yoru waved his hand sending a gale of sharp wind that shredded up the clay bird, **Parallel Processes** having taken over Yoru's body while he was… _preoccupied_. Immediately, Yoru's metallic throne dashed backward at Mach speeds and no sooner did the clay bird explode, sending a shockwave that caused the winds to churn.

"Is my face that unpleasant to look at that you'd turn away?" Sage Yoru asked.

Samui froze before turning back towards him. "…No that's not it, I just…" she paused and stared at his luminous golden eyes, noting how they never deviated from her own. She reached up with her hands and stroked Yoru's shimmering white scales. "I think you're cool…" she said as she lost herself in his gaze…

Mei looked on in interest at how easily Yoru had captivated an enemy kunoichi and this form…he seemed to have some sort of magnetic charm that could trap people within…it was clearly unnatural.

"You damn child…!" Gari exclaimed before he raised the clay dragon higher into the air as its mouth bulged before it released three smaller sized clay dragons, each of which aggressively charged towards Yoru. Never had Gari met an opponent so infuriatingly arrogant as to continually and actively flirt during combat.

The clay dragons gilded towards Yoru's flying throne and rapidly spat out small white clay bullets.

Yoru only said one word, his eyes never leaving Samui's: "Levia."

The snake snapped open her eyes.

Her vertically slit pupils constricted.

She immediately uncoiled around Yoru and shot into the sky before her body rapidly expanded.

Two horns grew out of either side of her head.

Intricate golden lines formed on her body.

She roared.

 **Sage Mode!**

Coating her now 20-meter long body with **Steel Release** , Levia utilized **Magnet Release** to float in the air and intercepted the bullet bombs with her body. They exploded on impact but left no injuries on her person and instead only served to irritate the powerful beast.

Levia took a breath.

 **Sage Art: Storm Style-**

Dense blue energy coalesced within her maw as she stared down at the three clay dragons charging towards her.

Gari's pupils shrank as his honed instincts warned him of impending danger causing him to immediately fly out of the line of Levia's mouth.

 **Leviathan's Breath!**

It was instant.

At the speed of light, a tremendous beam flashed from Levia's mouth and completely erased the clay dragons from sight.

They simply vanished.

Before anyone could notice, the beam parted the clouds and flew out into the atmosphere…

Mei's body trembled.

That snake…

It was too strong.

She hadn't even really noticed it before as it had always stayed quietly coiled and asleep around Yoru, but after seeing it in action…

Cold sweat dripped down both her and Gari's forehead while the latter distanced himself before taking a breath. " _It seems I have to take it one step further…"_ he stated as he climbed higher into the air.

Levia, seeing as she had completed her task, exited **Sage Mode** and flew back towards Yoru. She shrank down into the size of a finger before she nestled into Yoru's flaming hair.

Mei stared at the Snake for a moment. "Yoru, where did you find-" She paused as she realized that his attention was still preoccupied.

"Ahh, my apologies," Yoru stated as he looked up above. "It appears that something requires my immediate attention." He concluded as he saw a gargantuan white clay statue falling towards them.

Yoru uncrossed his legs and stepped forward, his body hovering in the sky.

"Levia my dear, watch them for me will you?" Yoru stated as his gaze became disinterested as he looked up at his opponent.

Levia _hissed_ in affirmation and flew out of Yoru's hair before she grew slightly longer and nestled on Samui's lap. Seeing the creature on her body, Samui merely began stroking her scales while a light smile made its way on her usually indifferent visage.

Yoru flew the throne away from him and stared up at the rapidly approaching bomb and realized that this sort of attack could potentially damage his scales…

 **Sage Art: Lightning Style-**

A small white nucleus crackling with electricity formed on Yoru's palm before he gently sent it up to contend with the bomb.

 **Limelight!**

It burst.

In a brilliant flash of light that could be seen from dozens of kilometers away, the electric nucleus detonated with such devastating force that its blastwave it encompassed an area over 5 kilometers in diameter. The thick cumulonimbus clouds in the area that had started to gather immediately dispersed from the attack.

Gari's pupils shrank, however before he could even think of his next move, a hand clasped around his neck.

"You've amused me for long enough," Yoru stated as he stared at the man in disregard.

With sweat dripping down his face, Gari grimaced with a _tsk_ and clasped his hands together.

The giant clay dragon beneath them halted in mid-air before it lit up.

It exploded with colossal force sending plumes of smoke all around the atmosphere.

Yoru suddenly shot out from the smoke cloud and dashed towards the earth over 30 kilometers below in less than a second. He slammed Gari's back into the ground causing massive deep cracks to spread across the landscape over a hundred meters around. The man coughed out globs of blood and pieces of his internal organs as his body lay unmoving beneath the rubble.

"I commend you for your efforts," Yoru stated simply while one of the ethereal snakes coiling around him opened its mouth towards Gari. "Rejoice; you have the distinct honor of dying by my hand."

Gari chuckled before his chuckles turned into full-blown laughter. "Kid, you're going to die a horrific death."

"Is that right?"

 **Sage Art: Storm Style-**

Gari simply smiled while his body became transparent, black veins clearly evident throughout his form. The veins immediately condensed into a sphere around Gari's heart. "Since the moment I found out you were here, I was prepared." He laughed. "I told you, you will die a horrible death."

" **!"**

Never before had **Instinct** screamed at him as loud as it did now.

Sage Yoru's expression changed greatly.

The grin never left Gari's face. "Boom"

In a flash of light, an astronomical explosion enveloped Yoru and rapidly spread, the blast wave instantly vaporizing every piece of land it came across. The eruption of energy formed into a large conical shaped explosion with two "arms" that could be seen in the distance, its height easily surpassing hundreds of meters.

On the metallic throne, Levia instantly took control of it with **Magnet Release** and lengthened her body before wrapping around the entirety of the chair. Using **Steel Release** to fully augment herself, Levia protected Samui and Mei from the edge of the shocking blast.

Powerful gale force winds rocked Levia and the Throne while the expressions of the two women within were exceedingly grave.

After a moment, everything stopped.

Levia uncoiled herself from the throne and shortened her size before looking down at the now bare expanse of land 25 kilometers in diameter.

Samui's and Mei's eye sharpened at the scene before they stared at each other for a brief moment. An attack of such magnitude was virtually unheard of. They could not comprehend someone surviving from something like that…

Samui's gaze tightened.

Instantly, the throne was brought down towards the ground by Levia before it landed safely on the bare dirt. Up ahead, the three could see Yoru's upright form and the hideous state it was in.

His scales were ruptured and he had numerous burns on his skin. Both of his horns were broken and his skin was splitting at numerous areas, yet despite this, he still remained standing.

"Is he…" Samui began to ask.

Mei frowned before looking at Levia to gauge the snake's reaction. Seeing the generally disinterested look she appeared to have (though it was hard to tell since she was a snake…), Samui wondered if they really had such a poor relationship… " _Wait, that can't be right."_

Levia slithered over to Yoru and _hissed_ in displeasure.

"I…have…nothing to…admit." Sage Yoru stated slowly, each word taking incredible amounts of effort.

In the deepest recesses of his mind, he realized that he had gotten slightly complacent, yet his arrogance would never allow such a thought to even fully conceptualize before it was destroyed.

Hearing his voice caused the two women to look at each other in shock. They had no doubt they would have been vaporized by the attack, yet not only was Yoru relatively in one piece, but he was also still alive.

" _How strong do you have to be to survive something like that…?"_ Mei thought seriously as she re-examined Yoru.

Levia _hissed_.

"I apologize…for making…you…worry…" Yoru stated before he slowly turned his head towards her. "However…my dear…I…require….your…assistance."

Levia…scoffed? Before she slithered up Yoru's body. She opened her mouth as soon as she got to the nape of his neck before she sank her fangs into him. Immediately, vast amounts of senjutsu chakra were pumped into Yoru's body, accelerating his healing his already incredible healing.

Due to the fact that Levia had been gifted with Yoru's blood when she was just a newborn hatchling, her energy signature was almost completely identical to his own. As a result, she could safely transfer chakra and senjutsu chakra to him should the need for it ever arise.

Suddenly from the distance, footsteps rapidly made their way towards this area.

Samui's and Mei's eyes narrowed seriously as they prepared to face any enemies. The amount of noise that had been made in this direction no doubt had drawn the attention of whoever was stupid enough to come near a battle zone of such magnitude.

The world had no shortage of idiots.

"Miss Terumi!"

"Samui!"

Utakata and Cee yelled respectively, following behind which were their teammates.

Both Mei and Samui blinked before they slightly relaxed their guard.

In a few moments, the two teams coming from opposite directions reached the center where Yoru was getting treated and where Mei and Samui were located.

"Miss Terumī, are you ok?! What happened here!" Utakata asked as he stared at the now blank vast expanse of what used to be a mountainous terrain. "Who could have done this…" Utakata paused before he finally noticed Yoru who was recovering in between Mei and Samui. "Who is-"

"Yorudan!" Cee stated as he stopped in front of Samui and stared at the boy behind her. "What the hell happened? What caused this and why is _he_ here?" He asked in rapid succession. Seeing as Yoru was so heavily injured, he grabbed the tanto from his back, sweat dripping down his brow as his knuckles turned white. "Whatever the case, now is the best-"

"Stop." Samui declared simply. "He saved our lives. I would appreciate it if you didn't repay that by trying to kill him."

"But Samui-!"

"I implore you to do give it a shot," Yoru stated as he turned to face Cee, his body now 40% healed thanks to Levia's ministrations. "However, if you fail to kill me in my weakened state, the cost will be your life." He finished as his pupils constricted murderously while looking at the blond male Kumo shinobi.

Cee took a step back from the severity of his gaze while his breathing became heavy.

"Yoru," Samui said softly as she touched his arm and shook her head.

He stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes. "As you wish. Regardless, my presence here is no longer required."

Saying so, Sage Yoru reverted back to his normal condition, his scales and horns disappearing along with his slitted eyes and white chakra shroud.

His eyes opened, his irises now silver, before he sighed.

"I owe you an apology," Yoru said with a bow as he faced Samui.

She blinked. "…For what?"

"When in that state, I tend to do and say things I normally would not. If I made you uncomfortable, I'd like to apologize for that. I would understand if you would like to keep your distance from me."

Cee frowned. "Oi, what did you-!"

"Cee," Samui said coolly.

He twitched but remained silent nonetheless.

"Your wife will definitely wear the pants in your relationship," Darui stated blandly from the side, a toothpick in his mouth.

Veins protruded from Cee's face.

Ignoring them, Samui turned to face Yoru. "…Please stand up."

Yoru straightened his posture and stared into Samui's eyes.

She looked back at him with her usual chilly gaze.

They stared at each other for many moments.

Samui's expression softened. " _Even now he's still looking at_ _ **me**_ _."_ She thought before asking. "Then, What you said…"

Yoru blinked. "Ahh, I meant what I said. I just normally wouldn't be so forward about it…"

"I see." She said as she smiled lightly before she turned back towards her team with her usual chilly gaze, either ignoring or uncaring of their frozen expressions. "Let's go. We still have to survive until this exam is over." With that, she walked past them.

Cee's mouth hung low as his eyes nearly bulged.

Darui's toothpick fell out of his mouth as he gaped slightly. "Huh…I never would have thought she liked them younger-"

He immediately dodged a tanto that sliced at his face, the wind from the blade cutting off a few strands of his hair. "That thing is dangerous Samui…"

She gave him a disinterested glance. "Pick his jaw up and let's move."

"Hai, Hai," Darui stated as he closed Cee's jaw and carried him away with Samui towards the distance.

Looking at Samui's disappearing behind, it was times like these that Yoru thanked **Empathy** that he knew enough about her emotional state to know what to say. If he's apologized for all that, she definitely wouldn't have decided to come over…

"Isn't that great Yoru?" Mei asked with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "You seem to have found a girlfriend."

Yoru bowed once more. "The way I disregarded you before was completely unjust and for that, I apologize. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me, but I understand if you do not want to remain acquainted."

"What exactly happened…" Utakata asked in bafflement.

Mei ignored him and looked at Yoru before her expression crumbled. "Get up, please. I really can't stay upset at you." She stated as Yoru looked back at her. "I do have to wonder though why you did act that way? You seem to have some conscious understanding of your actions while in that… _state_."

Yoru scratched the back of his head. "It was to make you jealous so that you'd want me more."

Mei blinked.

Utakata gaped.

Zabuza picked his ear and flicked his pinkie.

Mei stayed silent for a moment before she began to laugh. "That other side of you is really devious. That being said…" she cupped Yoru's face into her hands. "I can't say I dislike it."

"Will anyone explain to me what is going on? Context and what not? No?"

Utakata went ignored.

"Don't worry Yoru, I'll still be acquainted with you." She stated before separating herself from Yoru and turning around. "Let's leave before this place is flooded with idiots too curious for their own well being." She said as began to walk away.

Utakata immediately followed behind her.

Zabuza watched them go for a moment before staring at Yoru. "So you're the kid that got sent into the bingo books as an S-Ranked threat at only eleven years old?" Zabuza stated as he scanned Yorudan up and down. "This is the first time I'm seeing you up close. There's a nice bounty on your head you know?"

"I know," Yoru stated simply while Levia coiled around him and rested on his shoulders. "Do you want it?"

Zabuza chuckled and shook his head. "I think I like living for now. If I ever feel like dying, I'll let you know."

Yoru nodded. "I'll be around."

With a nod his direction, Zabuza turned away from Yoru and walked towards his team.

Yoru sighed and shook his head at this entire situation before he noted that the purple barrier in the sky suddenly rippled and disappeared.

"Seems like my clones took care of it huh Levia?"

 _hiss_

Yoru stroked her gently. "I wonder how Itachi and Kabuto are doing…I need to meet up with them anyhow."

Suddenly, Yoru froze as a torrent of memories flooded his brain.

His eyes widened. " _How the hell...!"_ Yoru thought as the clone that was with Itachi and Kabuto granted him it's memories. " _Obito…"_

Yoru's gaze then turned severe at the last few scenes. "A Suna council member huh…?"

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

 _ **[Minutes Prior]**_

Itachi's body froze. "Obito Uchiha…That can't be possible. He's supposed to be-"

"Dead? Yeah, I know." Yoru Clone replied. "That's why I called him a ghost…that and his bullshit ability to phase through all attacks for who knows how long."

"Oya, Oya, this is quite the twist," Kabuto stated as he adjusted his glasses.

Itachi shook his head as he gazed at Obito who was beginning to evolve his **Susanoo** to the muscle stage. "Even if he's still alive, how can he manifest **Susanoo**? Wasn't his other eye with-"

"Kakashi." Yoru completed. "But the village is protected by a spacetime barrier so there's no way he could sneak in and steal his sharingan. Even if Kakashi had gone out for a mission, he's an Anbu Captain right now. The missions he obtains are granted directly from the Hokage so it's near impossible for them to be intercepted." Yoru turned to face Itachi. "That's why I was asking if it was possible to do _that_ …" he said, gesticulating at Obito's **Susanoo** , "With only a single one of your bullshit eyeballs."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "No. In order to first unlock **Susanoo** , both Mangekyō Sharingan have to be in the owner's possession. He should be unable to use it with only a single eye."

Yoru Clone thought for a moment before shaking his head with a sigh. "A mystery for another day."

Right at this moment, the Masked Man's **Susanoo** regrew it's lost arm as skin fully covered its previously muscled form.

He flipped through a hand seal, his chakra avatar mimicking his movement.

"Kabuto, stabilize Itachi with your medical ninjutsu. This thing takes a toll on his eyes!" Yoru stated while he grimaced and placed a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "Itachi, I'm going to help you out, so attack!"

As he said that, Yoru's pupils turned slit as he activated **Sage Transformation** , but instead of using the senjutsu chakra for himself, he siphoned it into Itachi's **Susanoo**. The giant orange avatar began growing ethereal white scales on the outer portions of its body causing Itachi's eyes to widen from the influx of powerful energy.

"Focus!" Yoru stated as the Masked Man released a horrifying stream of fire towards the trio.

Itachi's expression became calm as he raised the **Yata Mirror** located on his **Susanoo** 's left hand and negated the devastating fire attack. Immediately after, Itachi flipped through some handseals and inhaled, his avatar following suit.

 **Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!**

A massive ball of flame was emitted from Itachi's **Susanoo** and flew towards the Masked Man's own in blazing fury.

Obito and his **Susanoo** flipped through a few handseals before his chakra flared and the ground trembled.

 **Bird → Hare → Serpent**

 **Wood Style: Tree Wall Barrier!**

Countless wooden branches sprung up from the ground at high speeds and formed into a wall that the roaring ball of fire clashed against. The barrier began to splinter apart from the intensity of the attack while the flame dispersed on either side, its heat melting the solid earth and walls of the canyon.

Suddenly, a shadow was cast down upon the Masked Man causing him to look up above at Itachi's airborne **Susanoo** , both Yoru and Kabuto still present within. As it came down with surging ferocity, the Masked Man immediately leaped back and created some distance before the **Susanoo** slammed into the ground with overwhelming force. The canyon shook as a crater rapidly propagated from the point of impact while Obito softly landed some distance away.

Yoru narrowed his eyes. " _The way he's been fighting…"_ it wasn't really notable at first, but Yoru began to realize that Obito almost seemed to be…restricting himself. It was an odd thought, but that was the general feeling he got, one that was amplified soon after Obito had upgraded his **Susanoo** to its skin form…

" _Are his eyes becoming a burden or is it something else…"_

Regardless, Yoru has also found a weakness to Obito's seemingly impenetrable defenses. "Itachi," Yoru called, gathering the Uchiha's attention. "We need to get him in the air, even if it's just for a second. Distract him for just a moment."

Itachi nodded seriously before in his **Susanoo** 's hands, three ethereal magatamas bound together by a single, circular thread formed.

 **Yasaka Magatama!**

The Shuriken-like attack was propelled towards the Masked Man who ducked under the attack.

At that very instant, Yoru clone slapped his hands on the ground and sent a surge of energy through the earth before the ground beneath the Masked Man began to split. With his momentum already thrown towards the ground, the Masked Man was unable to react as he and his **Susanoo** were launched into the sky by a gigantic pillar of earth.

" _Now!"_ Yoru thought as the metallic particles located throughout the canyon began to surge before they gathered into the shape of a hand which pulled the Masked Man out of his **Susanoo**. Yoru promptly dashed out of Itachi's sphere of protective before a voluminous amount of energy gathered on the palm of his hand.

A blaring screeching noise echoed throughout the battlefield as a **Rasengan** with four large points around its core, reminiscent of a Fuma Shuriken, formed on Yoru's hand.

 **Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!**

The winds churned intensely from the mere presence of the attack before Yoru siphoned senjutsu chakra into the attack…

And threw it.

In an instant it appeared in front of the Masked Man and bombarded him with overwhelming force, sending his body rocketing backward at high velocities.

Before it burst.

The central sphere of the Rasenshuriken detonated with cataclysmic intensity, producing a vortex of wind in the immediate area. Within the vortex, countless microscopic wind blades were created that ruthlessly pierced through the Masked Man's body which was floating in the center of devastating wind vortex.

Seconds passed as the Masked Man was continuously assaulted before the wind vortex lost its energy.

The Masked Man plopped to the ground motionlessly.

Silence covered the battlefield.

"Did we-"

"Don't say it," Kabuto stated as he cut off Itachi. He adjusted his glasses. "Your only asking for something worse to happen." He turned to Yoru. "What do you sense?"

Yoru Clone nodded. "We should be alright. I can't sense any chakra off of him."

With that affirmation, Itachi dispersed his **Susanoo**. Despite the fact that he had been using it for much longer than he otherwise should have, he felt fine thanks to the regenerative effects of **Mystical Healing**.

The three Konoha 'genin' slowly walked towards the downed form of their opponent before they stood above him.

Their expressions immediately distorted.

"Who the hell is this?" Yoru asked as he saw some middle-aged man on the floor. He wore the same clothing that the Masked Man had worn…except for his mask.

The glare reflected strongly off of Kabuto's glasses. "He is Yuura, one of Sand village's council members and a very influential member in Sunagakure."

"…Then why is he here? What happened to the Masked Man?" Itachi asked as his brows slightly furrowed.

"Some kind of technique? Maybe…" Yoru began to think for a moment.

Obito's conservative way of fighting…

And the thing he said earlier that Yoru had barely picked up and hadn't really paid much attention to.

* * *

" _30% should be enough to beat you…"_

* * *

"I'm not sure…" Yoru began before he stated his hypothesis. "But it seems like somehow he somehow took over this guy's body and used his abilities through him…?"

"Is such a thing really possible?" Itachi asked.

"That's the only thing I can think of given the amount of information I have," Yoru stated. "That being said…" he continued as his gaze turned dark. "The Masked Man said he had _received_ information about our group. He most likely tracked us down through the emblem Boss left you. The only question now is…"

"Whether he stole it," Kabuto stated as he looked at Yuura.

"Or whether he received it from a voluntary source…" Itachi concluded.

Yoru stayed silent for a moment before he took back his **Ice Poles** and placed it in his inventory.

"You said that we would be disqualified because of that barrier?" Itachi asked.

Yoru nodded. "That's right, however, I already have a plan to keep us in the game…but this is the Boss's problem." Yoru Clone said before he looked up at his two teammates. "Later."

He _puffed_.

"…"

"…"

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

In a plain concrete-floored room lit by dim flickering fire on its walls, Obito regained consciousness and opened his eyes before he simply sat on the ground silently.

"Did you complete it?" A man with short spiky orange hair asked, his ripple patterned purple eyes boring straight into the eye hole of the Masked Man's mask.

Obito stayed silent a moment longer before he completed said. "…It was in good judgment that I went after him when I did. If not, I would have been more unfortunate than fortunate the next time we met."

"What do you mean?" The purple-eyed individual asked. "Was he truly worth us wasting such a valuable asset? It is not simple to obtain people with such high positions in their village."

"Believe me, it was worth it," Obito said as he stood up from the ground. "If we do not get rid of him now, he will definitely become an obstacle."

"To _us_ or to _you_?" The purple-eyed man asked succinctly.

Obito's gaze bore into that of the man opposite him. "Believe me when I tell you that if he catches wind of even a _fraction_ of our plans, he will pose a threat just as, if not greater than, any of that a Kage could pose…even to _you_."

"You think he can stand up to the power of a _god?"_ The man asked as he stepped forward towards Obito, looking down upon him with severity in his gaze. "No one shall disrupt my plans…everyone must experience true _pain_."

"You suppose yourself a deity," Obito stated as he stepped forward threateningly. "But we both know that in reality, you have the fragility of a child…your true self is merely a man, Nagato."

"Do. Not. Test me." The purple-eyed man stated as out of the shadows came the forms of 5 other individuals, each with rippling patterned Purple Eyes.

Obito stared down at the Yahiko corpse Nagato used as a medium for his Path of Pain before he stepped back. "Very well, but I'll leave you with a piece of advice," he stated as space began to vortex around him. "If you ever come across Yoru and you fail to kill him…" he paused as his gaze intensified. "Be prepared."

He vanished.

* * *

 **Alright, I've thought up of a game plan. I think I'll have Yoru go to Naruto (Shippūden) for just a bit before I'll promptly shuttle him into the MCU. It would be good for him to see what kind of impact he has had on the world before exposing him to technology up close and personal. With that out of the way, I already know about what time period I'd drop him in Naruto (Shippūden), but I now need to decide what period in the MCU timeline I'll drop him…**

 **Author's Note: if you guys remember, Pain used something called the Shapeshifting Technique to create 30% chakra clones of Kisame and Itachi during the very beginning of Shippūden when Gaara was having his Bijuu drained.**

 **Secondly, I found out that the Author of the fanfic "The Root of Darkness" followed my story which made me kinda happy. If you all haven't read it yet…why are you still here? Go. Read it.**

 **Have any of you watched the Netflix show Lucifer? That's basically how Sage Yoru interacts with women he finds attractive. (If you haven't watched it yet, I highly recommend you do.)**

 **Does Mei know how old Yoru is? And is it weird for an 18 years old woman to be sexually attracted to a bordering 14 years old (even though he looks a couple of years older)? Yes to the first and no to the second. This is the shinobi world so their rules and morals are very different from our own here on 21st Century Earth. And you know the saying: "old enough to kill; old enough to drink; old enough to f-"**

 **Jom Ghost: not everyone has a vendetta against Yoru, most are just curious about a child who was able to have his name and an S-rank bounty placed on him in the bingo book. Only Iwagakure and** _ **possibly**_ **some of Kumo have something against him. After all, a prodigy like him means another ace for the Leaf and not many people like that.**

 **Ekmah: I've read all of Noodlehammer's Naruto Fics and loved each and every one of them…especially the smut.**

 **EyeofSoren: When Yoru absorbs people, he gets a portion of their stats and possibly some ability they own…More will be explained in the final chapter.**

 **Ittehgaps: read above…**

 **Jordisk: also read above…it should give you hints as to the answers to your question.**

 **Kroz Phantomville: Nope, no one has any idea he committed it. They might speculate based on the bingo book, but even then, to them, it would be a stretch.**


	30. Chapter 30

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Important note: I might do an epilogue chapter for next week so keep an eye out for that. In other news, over a year ago I was working on a smut filled DC comics/OC - Gamer story. I only wrote 12 chapters before I got tired of it lol. Anyway, since I never posted those chapter and since I'm going to be working on the second book of this story, I figured I could keep you men & women of culture entertained with that story if you were interested. I'll post 3 Chapters next week and then 1 chapter a week after that until I run out of chapters. There is no deep plot in the story but there is a lot of ' _plot_ ', so don't take it too seriously.**

* * *

 **Chapter 30**

Up ahead on the bare expanse of dirt and sand, Kabuto, Itachi, and I saw the congregation of a handful of teams and some Sunagakure chunin exam proctors who were checking off the teams who had passed or who had failed. In my right hand, I dragged along the corpse of the Sunagakure council member while his head hung low, face down towards the ground.

The approach of our team drew the attention of everyone present and caused the gaze of one of the proctors to instantly be fixed upon us. His brows furrowed slightly as he checked something on the scroll he had in hand for a moment before he stated, "Team 10…" he looked up at us. "Your emblem's signal went out for over 3 minutes 37 seconds. Regardless of the reason, you're disqualified."

I could feel that some people from the other teams were gleeful and relieved at that fact, while only a few people seemed somewhat concerned.

It was really only Mei and Samui.

"Is that so?" I stated as I stopped and looked up to him.

He frowned. "The rules were explained to you in detail. Do you have a problem?"

Instead of answering, I unceremoniously threw the corpse I was holding towards the ground near him. It flew in a parabola before landing face up on the ground with a thud.

The proctor furrowed his brows as he stared at me before he looked down.

His face froze.

Not only him, but the faces of the other proctors were also filled with terror and shock as they gazed upon the corpse.

"Isn't that…?" One of the other examiners began.

"Lord Yuura!" A voice that did not come from the proctors yelled out.

I turned to see Maki from her Sunagakure team run over towards the corpse before she leveled her heated glare towards me. "What did you do?!"

"What did _I_ do?" I asked before I gestured towards the corpse. "How about, why did he come all the way over here to the exam site?" I stared at her. "Unless you want to suggest that I somehow left the exam's barrier unnoticed, traveled back to Sunagakure unnoticed, tracked down this guy, killed him, left the village unnoticed, and somehow re-entered the barrier unnoticed all in the span of the 3 minutes and 37 seconds that my team's emblem was offline?"

Her expression distorted.

"…You killed him?" The proctor asked.

"Well, I wasn't going to stand still while he tried to kill me and my team if that was what you were asking," I explained blandly. "Regardless of who it is if you come after me with murderous intent…you better be prepared to lose your life." I then looked to the distance for a moment before taking out my team's emblem. "Now then, reinstate my team."

He shook his head. "Even so, the rules are clear so I'm afraid I can't do that. I can, however, take up your case to-"

"Bullshit." I stared him right in the eyes. "It's abundantly clear that Sunagakure is running a pretty dirty chunin exam, what with one of their _esteemed_ council members attacking a team of genin during the exams they were hosting. Curious how he found us in such a large area in such a short period of time…It's almost as if he knew where we were." I concluded as I twirled the emblem on my hands. That was most likely how they kept track of the teams here. Since the emblem had a mechanism that allowed the barrier to know when one of the signals disappeared, it was likely they could track us through it as well.

The proctor's eyes narrowed. "Be careful who you insult, _kid_."

"And you should be careful who you threaten, _scum_."

My eyes turned slit as my body instantly molded senjutsu chakra, however, I didn't absorb it. Instead, I utilized the senjutsu chakra in conjunction with my **Yin Release: Spiritual Pressure** in order to create a visual representation of my killing intent that everyone in my immediate vicinity could see.

For everyone around me, the worked seemed to turn dark as all they could see was me and the manifestation of my killing intent which was represented in the form of giant white snakes coiling around my body.

I could see the proctor's eyes widen as the snake almost seemed to physically wrap around his body, causing his breathing to become stagnant. He saw the face of the giant illusion snake up close, its mouth opened wide exposing the thick long fangs within that were dripping with venom.

His pupils constricted.

Before…

"Stop!"

A voice said from the distance.

I instantly dropped the **Spiritual Pressure** illusion causing the man to drop down as he gasped for air.

I looked up and ahead to see a man riding on a golden cloud of dust who was followed behind by a few more shinobi who all had powerful chakra signatures. One of them, however, was more notable than the rest…

"Sensei!" Maki yelled at she looked at Pakura who was following behind the Kazekage.

She was a fair-skinned woman with pupiless brown eyes. She had green hair that she tied in a bun on top of her head with a hair needle running through it and one short and long strands of hair with orange tips framing each side of her face. She acknowledged Maki with a smile and nod before her gaze turned serious as she looked at the corpse of Yuura then at me.

"Lord Kazekage." The proctor said in relief as he slowly stood up to the ground and bowed.

The man in question lowered himself from the clouds with a frown on his face as he looked at Yuura's corpse. "Yuura had requested and obtained access and information pertaining to the chunin exam. Moments later, the 3 Anbu units guarding his home while he was present were found murdered. There was no evidence of forced entry and adding to the fact the information he had obtained…I thought it prudent to come here in person as soon as possible."

"Then that means…" Maki began as she looked at the corpse. "Lord Yuura…he was-"

"A traitor." Pakura finished as she looked at the corpse apathetically. "There's no need to refer to someone like him with honorifics."

While Maki remained silent, Pakura looked up to the Kazekage who nodded to her and looked back down at the proctors. "We'll take the corpse back to the village, so you can continue with the exams. As for you…" he stated as he turned to look at me. "Do not assault my subordinates. Are we understood?"

"Why don't you keep your rabid dogs on a tighter leash?" I asked back. "It would be a pity if they had to be put down because they didn't do what they were supposed to."

Everyone's expression changed.

At this moment, a crushing pressure descended upon me as the Kazekage stared at me emotionlessly, his fury churning. "You will _not_ disrespect _me_ in _my_ territory." He said as his pupils shrank dangerously. "Are. We. Clear?"

Ahh, I remembered something like this.

It was similar to the Pressure I had sensed from the Hokage all those years ago. If I had to compare them though, even based on the fact that I had only felt a little bit of Hiruzen's, I would have to say that the Third Hokage's _intent_ was much more impactful than the Fourth Kazekage's.

That being said.

"I apologize," I said with a bow before I straightened myself and looked him in the eye. "It's just that we were unjustly targeted by an outside force and got eliminated, so I let my emotions get the best of me." I sighed. "I just think it sucks that we can't get reinstated into the chunin exams even though the fault is clearly not our own."

From the corner of my eye, I could see the Procter twitch.

Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, looked at me for a moment longer and closed his eyes for a second before he opened them and turned to the proctor. "Reinstate their team. The fault of this incident is one of our own, so I will take responsibility."

"Yes, Lord Kazekage."

Rasa then nodded and covered the corpse in a cocoon of gold sand before he levitated into the air. Pakura and the other two shinobi (Who I didn't care to find out about) followed suit as they stepped on the golden dust clouds formed by the Kazekage. In just a moment, all the individuals who had arrived (and one golden coffin) flew out into the sky and disappeared in the distance.

The proctor watched them leave before he turned back his gaze towards me and picked up his scroll. "Due to extenuating circumstances, your team's emblem will be reinstated and you will be allowed to participate in the next stage of the exam. Any questions? Good." He said before any one of us could even say anything.

I think he was still mad about the whole killing intent thing.

The proctor turned around to face the remaining teams, likely noting that everyone was here. "Because the first portion of the exam ended so quickly, I will now explain to you the second portion of the exam."

Everyone peeled up and paid attention.

The proctor continued. "The second portion of this exam could possibly factor in a lot of abilities that you'll need as shinobi ranging from espionage to torture and interrogation."

I barely paid attention as my mind traveled elsewhere.

"Now, there are ten teams remaining, meaning that there are 30 of you left." He began to explain. "Each team has a single emblem." An emblem appeared in his hands as he continued. "The main goal of this part of the exam is for _each_ individual to secure _one_ emblem."

The atmosphere suddenly changed and I could hear the hearts of people quicken.

"During the second part of the exam, you and your team will remain in Sunagakure. A barrier similar to the one used here will be placed in the village with the rules of the first exam remaining almost unchanged: If you break the emblem or lose the emblem, your team will be disqualified. Now, however…" he paused as his emblem disappeared in a _puff_. "You will be allowed to keep them in any storage mechanism you desire and so you will not need to be worried about your emblem's signal disappearing. The only thing that matters is that you are able to present whatever emblem you have before the time limit."

He scanned around. "Each of you will have one week to gain an emblem for yourselves using any all and all means necessary granted that you do not cause harm to the village and its people. The entirety of Sunagakure will be your testing grounds, so if you are caught leaving the village during this time period, you will be disqualified. Anything other than that is fair game. Remember, each individual in a team needs to have one emblem in order to pass. If only one member of the team had an emblem, only he/she will be able to go to the next round."

This was devious.

A team could very well split apart if whoever the supposed leader was decided to keep ahold of the team's emblem, forcing the other two members of the team to search out for other teams and steal their emblems. What was worse was that even if you did manage to find a member of an opposing team, there was no guarantee that they had the emblem and you might just end up fighting or torturing them for nothing.

I soon noticed that a good portion of the groups were now on edge as they made to keep a distance from each other while the team captains prudently guarded their team's emblems. Every individual was on edge and was looking at everyone else as enemies, even those from the same teams were being looked at with untrustworthy eyes.

Perhaps seeing the teams already on edge, the proctor finalized, "Because of the nature of this next exam and due to certain…circumstances-" he briefly glanced my way. "The second portion of the chunin exams will start after a grace period lasting up until tomorrow at 12:00 A.M. This should give you and your team sufficient time to prepare. Any individual who tries to attack another team during this grace period will have the emblem they obtained rendered void and useless. Whatever happens between teams, however, is not something that we can manage…" he stared at each team with hidden amusement. "That is all."

With that, he looked at the other proctors and they nodded and got into a formation surrounding us before flipping through a few handseals. In but a moment, I could sense chakra flowing through the ground beneath us before we were reversed summoned back to where we came from.

The other teams quickly split as soon as they arrived while the teams that had failed left somberly.

However, my current foul mood had nothing to do with this situation. I held onto Itachi and Kabuto before using **Amenotokotachi** to teleport us back to our place of dwelling.

With a sigh, I sat on the edge of the living room couch and took out the emblem before levitating it absentmindedly, the piece of metal slowly spinning around in front of me.

Numerous thoughts were floating through my mind.

"…How long have you known?" Itachi asked, breaking the tense silence.

Such a question without context may have seemed to be too vague for an answer, but I knew precisely what he was asking. "It's been close to 3 years now."

He frowned. "And you didn't say anything to anyone?"

"What was there to say?" I asked. "I didn't want his memory to be forever tarnished…at the very least, I could do that for her."

Rin.

I cared enough about her that I didn't want to know how she would react if she found out that her thought-to-be-dead-kind-of-an-ex-boyfriend tried to destroy the village and murder everyone present, she included.

The silence grew between us, the only audible sound being that of the wind being picked up by the floating spinning emblem above my palm.

"Then…" Kabuto finally spoke as he asked sincerely. "What are we going to do?"

The emblem stopped spinning and hovered over my palm.

"You two are doing nothing," I stated before turning my previously absent-minded gaze to Kabuto. "This is a problem that I'll deal with on my own…permanently." I looked down and clenched my fist, my bones cracking in response.

Itachi's expression tightened.

Kabuto's was hidden behind the glare of his glasses as he looked down slightly.

The emblem dropped to my palm.

"Don't look so down. Here." I said as I flicked the emblem at Kabuto.

With a gaze of mild surprise, he deftly caught it before looking back at me. "What…?"

"I'm done with this farce," I stated as I stood up from the couch. "Obito ruined my mood and now he's become a much bigger problem than I had initially bargained for…I don't have the heart to play around in this faux exam anymore."

Itachi's eyes widened. "Then, you…"

"I'm done," I said before I closed my eyes for a moment and focused. I then took out a scroll and jotted down some information on it before handing it to Itachi. "Those are the locations of the chakra signatures of the remaining teams. Pick a team and scout them out. I know you'll be able to secure one of these emblems for the finals."

"…Do you expect me to simply continue along as if nothing occurred?"

I shook my head. "It would look bad if two Konoha shinobi quit for no reason. I'll deal with my problem, you and Kabuto deal with yours. I trust you both will be able to dominate this thing anyway."

Itachi put down the scroll.

Kabuto remained mute.

"Get some rest you two," I stated. "Even though this day just started…it feels like it's been going on forever." I walked towards my room and opened its door. "Win this thing, will you?"

I closed it behind me.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

The day passed and night quickly came.

Yoru sat on the bed in his room in thought and stared blankly at the wall across the room.

Numerous things crossed his mind…

Suddenly, his eyes regained focus.

His gaze perfunctory, Yoru stood up.

"Levia, keep yourself hidden."

The snake in question _hissed_ in affirmation and shortened her body before hiding inside Yoru's shirt.

With that, using his **ID** skills, Yoru vanished from the room and appeared outside Sunagakure on one of the mountains behind it which served as part of the village's natural border and defense. At its summit, Yoru sat still for a while and closed his eyes in wait.

Space fluctuated in a spiraling fashion a few meters ahead of Yoru. Out of the distortion came a man about an inch taller than him who was wearing an orange mask with black tiger-like stripes running across it. He crossed his arms as he stood, the wind causing his long black spiky hair to wave.

This was the first time Yoru had seen the Masked Man in nearly 3 years, so he gave him an appraising glance. "You've grown into a big boy now haven't you…Obito?"

To Yoru's mild surprise, his **empathetic** ability could pick up no sign of distress or emotional turmoil from the Masked Man despite his identity having been revealed. He merely placed his hand on his mask and moved to take it off.

"You were always too intelligent…Yoru." Obito stated as his mask fully came off. "And now, you've become more of a nuisance to me."

Yoru's gaze tightened immensely as he gazed upon the perfect unblemished face of the Uchiha. Both of Obito's irises were red as three tomoe were positioned around his pupil, his impassive gaze facing Yoru. There were no scars denoting any kind of evidence that half of his body had been crushed under a boulder. What was more serious to Yoru, however, was that he could still sense Hashirama's chakra signature on him, however, it now felt fully integrated into Obito's own signature.

"Hashirama's cells?" Yoru asked directly.

Obito chuckled. "Ahh, if only it had been that simple. I truthfully have only you to thank." Seeing Yoru frown, Obito continued. "After all, if not for your ability to regrow lost appendages and heal old scars, I would have never been able to make a full recovery."

Yoru's eyes widened. "How…?"

"The kill switch made it really tricky you know," Obito stated as he touched his hand to his face. "But there are ways to make people do what you want without forcing them."

His fist clenched, Yoru stared directly into Obito's eyes. "I'm going to kill you."

"Well, isn't that a coincidence?" Obito stated as his eyes began to morph, his tomoe forming into stretched triangles evenly spaced around the pupil that each curved at the top around the eye, making it similar to a pinwheel. "My feelings towards you are precisely the same."

A cyan-blue ethereal skeleton leisurely began to form around Obito.

His gaze sharp, a white shroud of chakra slowly began to cover Yoru, scales slowly appearing on his form.

"What is your goal?" Yoru asked.

"To create a world where everyone can live out their dreams," Obito replied simply. "That's all."

Yoru's brows furrowed. "And trying to attack Minato and Kushina while letting a tailed beast loose in Konoha factored in _how_ exactly into this grand goal of yours?"

"You all would definitely become my biggest obstacle in completing my plan," Obito stated. "I'd rather not have to deal with you if I could help it."

"Your goal sounds more like a children's fairy tale."

"Oh, I assure you." Obito's stated with a grin. "It's very conceivable and highly possible to complete."

The energy being released from the two colossal forces of the shinobi world caused the winds to churn and the clouds above to vortex in a spiraling fashion reminiscent of a hurricane. The land of Sunagakure trembled in their presence as a giant cyan-blue humanoid avatar formed behind Obito while a similarly sized white incorporeal snake-like avatar actualized around Sage Yoru and cast its gleaming golden eyes at the **Susanoo**.

Lightning flashed across the sky above as the titans stared each other down.

"Have you ever heard of the legend of **Susanoo** and **Yamato no Orochi**?" Obito asked in amusement but seeing Sage Yoru simply look at him imperiously, he sighed, "This side of you is no fun, however…" He grinned as he cast an eager gaze at Yoru. "I'm going to enjoy our dance!"

Sage Yoru narrowed his eyes.

"Unfortunately…That will have to wait." Obito stated somewhat regretfully as his **Susanoo** avatar disappeared. "It turns out that making the Tsuchikage give two people his village's kinjutsu doesn't sit well with their council members, especially when one of them is a rebellious kid and the other one is well… _dead._ " He looked at Yoru helplessly as he emphasized that last part. "Maybe I should take a page from your book and kill them all…that was you right?"

The giant white serpentine avatar behind Yoru hissed dangerously at Obito causing the Uchiha to smile. "I know that despite how you act when you're like this, you wouldn't want to kill your close friend, would you? A battle between us would completely decimate this city…" his grin widened. "And nothing would be able to stop us."

Sage Yoru closed his eyes for a moment before his energy shroud, horns, scales, and golden slitted pupils disappeared. "Why did you call me out? My night was going splendidly until you decided to flare your chakra."

"Of course it's to tell you where I'm going to kill you," Obito stated matter of factually. "And you're going to readily visit your grave…that's just who you are."

Yoru's glare intensified.

Obito put on his mask before spacetime fluctuated in a spiraling fashion on the mask's right eye hole. "In a few days, I'll be taking a lovely trip around the **Valley of the End** …I believe our dance there will rewrite its history. Wouldn't you agree?"

The spiral fluctuation of space encompassed Obito before he vanished.

Yoru looked at the place he had disappeared from for a moment…

"He's kind of a dick."

Levia popped her head out of Yoru's shirt and _hissed_ in agreement.

Yoru shook his head and vanished back to his room with his **ID** skills.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

For the next couple of days, throughout the night, I sat in concentration in my room, utilizing **Hyperfocus** to mentally sort and compare all my skills. Numerous attack plans and skill possibilities flashed through my mind as I searched for the most effective methods in my arsenal with which to put Obito down.

One problem, however, kept popping up in my mind…

How could Obito cheat death?

I remembered Obito saying something about "costing him an eye", so it was probably safe to assume that he lost his dojutsu's capabilities after cheating death but…" _How the hell does it work?"_

Looking out of my room's window, I noted that it was around late afternoon. I looked down on my lap to see Levia coiled up, peacefully sleeping. I picked her up and put her on my head before getting off my bed and walking to the room next door. After a few knocks, the door clicked and opened, showcasing Itachi Uchiha who was behind.

Itachi looked up at me curiously. "Yoru…It's been a while. What do you need?"

"Can your bullshit eyeballs cheat death?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

Itachi's expression became grave.

"I'll take that as a yes," I said with a sigh. "When I fought Obito last time, he played this card and nearly killed me…" I obviously left out the fact that I had actually _died_ and that I too could cheat death…that detail wasn't important. "I need to know it's limits and possible counters."

Itachi left his room and closed the door behind him. " **Izanagi** …after a sharingan user sacrifices his eye, he will be able to cheat death continuously for a set period of time…it casts an illusion over reality itself, allowing the user control over what is and is not real for as long as Izanagi is active. They can negate any injuries they receive or even their deaths. After that, they will be rendered blind in the sacrificed eye and will no longer have access to their sharingan with it." Itachi sighed. "My father told me stories about how members of my clan abused it until a counter for the technique- **Izanami** -was created to punish those who abused **Izanagi**."

I ran my hands through my hair in exasperation. "And I'm guessing only an Uchiha can use that technique?"

Itachi nodded.

I exhaled loudly. "Your clan's eyes make no fucking sense. First, you can summon a gigantic avatar to fight for you out of nowhere and _now_ you can also make reality your bitch?" I looked at him and shook my head. "Such bullshit."

"…But it all comes at a price." Itachi stated softly. "Every ability we gain costs us something…something that we'll likely never get back."

I paused and looked at the Uchiha deeply. "Thank you, Itachi…at least I have some more information in my belt."

"…Why are you trying to do this alone?" He asked seriously. "You're not the only one who has people they want to protect."

I smiled lightly. "You still have that dream of stopping all war between the nations?"

Itachi's eyes widened.

I patted his head. "There's no need to sacrifice yourself in this battle…just stay home and protect your mother for me."

Itachi had remained quiet until that last part, after which he slapped my hand off his head. "You don't need to tell me."

"I don't forget what I promised you that day," I said as I turned away from him. "Just thought I'd let you know."

"…You sound like you're going to be away for a while."

"Yeah well…" I began with a short exhale. "After I do what I need to do, Minato will be able to find the biggest clue." I looked back at Itachi. "After that, I think I'll need to give him and Kushina some space after."

"…What clue?" Itachi asked. "And what are you going to do?"

I shook my head. "There's no need to worry about it now. Your dad will probably know when it happens and you'll hear about it then." I said as I turned away to walk out the door. "Just remember to win this and finally become a chunin."

"Where are you going?"

"For a drink," I said.

With that, I left the building and breathed out heavily before beginning to traverse the village. I noted how dense the activity around Sunagakure still was as he walked around. Soon after, I found himself in front of a bar with a signboard of a scorpion hanging above.

" _ **Scorpion's Poison**_ _Huh…this should have the strongest shit."_

I entered the establishment and walked towards the counter. Probably due to the fact that I appeared much older than I actually was, many people only gave me a fleeting glance. Though, there were a good amount of individuals who were looking at me with some peculiar gazes…

I was sure it wasn't because of my bounty this time because the people here didn't even have that much chakra and were all most likely civilians. What use would they even have for a **Bingo Book**?

It was definitely because I was handsome

The bartender paused as he stared at me for a moment before he raised a brow. "Is your pet snake going to cause any trouble?"

Oh…that's why.

I took Levia off my head and placed her in my shirt. "Just get me some shit."

"Anything in particular…?" The man asked questioningly.

I shook my head. "As long as it burns."

The bartender placed down the cup he was cleaning and looked at me deeply for a moment before he nodded in understanding. "Coming right up. Just don't get too rowdy when you've had too much to drink else I'll have to kick you out."

I chuckled lightly. "Believe me, my body can never have too much to drink."

The man scoffed and turned around before grabbing a bottle of hard liquor from his cabinet and pouring it into the cleaned shot glass. "Sure thing kid. Don't let me find you passed out drunk or puking in my bar."

I grabbed the glass and downed it in one gulp, feeling the scorching alcohol slide down my throat for a moment before the feeling completely disappeared. It was more than likely that **Gamer's Body** either treated this stuff as toxins or simply metabolized alcohol too quickly for me to get drunk.

I raised the glass and placed it down on the counter. "Another."

The man raised his brows before chuckling lightly. "That was one of my strongest ones and you didn't even flinch." He then took my glass and handed me the bottle. "You seem like you'll need it."

"Thanks," I said raising it to him before taking a few chugs of the burning liquid. "It's tastes terrible…how can people do this so often."

The man shrugged and began wiping the counter. "It reminds them of how their life feels but it makes it numb."

"Hm," I said before chugging more alcohol. Even though I couldn't get drunk, getting slightly buzzed for the briefest of moments wasn't out of the question.

" _Stupid Obito making things difficult…why couldn't he just stay dead…"_

With that, I took another sip.

And another.

And another…

Until the bottle was finished.

I eyed the hole of the empty bottle and sighed. "Can I get another one?"

The bartender blinked a few times and slowly handed me another one.

"Cheers," I said as I told another sip.

" _Fucking Obito with his stupid fancy eyes."_

And another…

" _He thinks he's the shit with his dumb_ _ **Susanoo**_ _and his bullshit intangibility…"_

And another.

" _And now, I'm going to have to kill him."_

Suddenly, behind me, the doors to the pub opened.

The pub instantly became silent.

Even the bartender straightened his posture.

The sound of heels clanking against wooden floors echoed throughout the establishment as an individual made their way over to my direction.

I paused the bottle midway to my mouth and placed it down on the counter as the person in question sat down beside me. I didn't need to look to know who it was since I could remember their chakra signature.

"Hmm, what's the strongest drink you have?" A charming voice sounded out next to me.

The bartender looked between me and her before saying, "Well, it would be the one he has in his hands…"

"Is that so?" The voice said before its owner turned towards me. "You mind sharing a little?"

I took another gulp and placed the small bottle on the table before sliding it over. "What brings someone like you here, Mei?"

Mei smiled and took a sip with her bright red lips before she licked them. "Let's see…a couple of days ago I met this guy who I found pretty interesting. We talked for a bit and I thought we had a decent thing going until he decided to ghost me for a couple of days." She said as he lightly swirled the small bottle in her hands.

The bartender raised a brow as he looked at me as if saying, " _Really?"_ Before he shook his head and went on to continue cleaning his station.

I gave him a dry look before sighing. "I don't have much of an excuse, it's just that something annoying came up during the exams and it's been putting me off ever since." I turned to look at her. "How did you find me here?"

Mei crossed her legs as she continued to swirl the bottle. "Your adorable little friend told me that I would be able to find you in one of these places. What was his name again…Itachi" She placed the bottle down and smiled. "I got lucky that it didn't take me too long to find you. Now tell me, what's bothering you. I was told your mood was quite sour and by the fact that you're here, it must be really bad."

I took the bottle and looked inside at its contents. "Let's just say that a ghost recently came back to haunt me and I'm preparing to exorcise it."

She looked at me with a raised brow. "Uhuh…"

I smiled as I took a swig from the bottle before sighing. "Basically, I met an old acquaintance who I thought was dead. Turns out he's alive and he wants to kill me for reasons that I can't really talk about."

Mei raised her brows and blinked a few times before chuckling a little. "Wow, that's rough…I'm sorry to hear. How close were you?"

"Close enough that I could barely consider him a friend."

"From the way you're acting, it sounds like he was more than just _barely_ your friend," Mei stated as she took the bottle from my hand. "You seem to really not want to confront him."

I shook my head. "No, I'll have no issue killing him."

She blinked. "Oh…"

"It's just…" I paused and looked up at the ceiling. "The aftermath…it's going to send me away for a bit." I sighed. "But there's a lot of people I'm going to miss here and…there's a few things I haven't even been able to experience yet." I said before I took back the bottle and gulped it down.

Mei placed a finger on her lips in interest, "Like what?"

"Well, I've never been to school," I said with a chuckle.

"Really?" She said before she placed her hand on mine and brought down the bottle to the table. "What else?"

I pursued my lips. "Well, I've never been to a party…"

"Bummer," Mei said softly as she slowly trailed her hand up my arm. "But is there anything that you really _really_ want to experience but just haven't had the opportunity to?"

I tapped my finger on the table in thought…

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

The door to Mei's room was slammed open, inviting two aggressively tangled bodies into its confines. Lips were sealed and re-sealed together as Yoru and Mei's mouths fiercely battled against each other.

Near reflexively, Yoru used **Magnet release** to manipulate the door handle and shut it behind him. As their clothes began to fall off, Yoru picked her up and pushed Mei up against the wall before sucking on her neck.

Her legs wrapped around him, she tightly grabbed the back of Yoru's hair and moaned at his touch before she bit her lip softly as his hands roamed up her sides.

Yoru then sat on the bed, Mei on top of him, as he began to run his hands up her finely toned body before he felt her soft orbs of flesh and squeezed.

She moaned as they kissed while she ground her hips against his, causing Yoru's excitement to _visibly_ elevate.

His eyes glowed as he located all of Mei's _weak points_ before he slipped his fingers into her wet canal. The thing about the weak points found by **Deconstructive Analysis** was that while they hurt immensely if they were targeted aggressively, as long as they were stimulated with _just_ the right amount of pressure and chakra…

Mei's eyes widened as her body suddenly shuddered and her lower half clamped tightly on Yoru's finger before she gave a short scream. Like a dam had burst, her lower lips expelled fluids all over the bed for moments that to her felt like an eternity.

As she slumped slightly, Yoru overturned their positions and stood atop her, Mei's body facing up. His eyes remained glowing as Yoru scanned her body and noted her labored breath, every inhale and exhale causing her ample chest to heave. "You are truly beautiful."

Through her blurry gaze, Mei smiled at him before gently running her hand through the side of Yoru's face. "Then, what are you waiting for?"

Yoru smiled. " _I fucking love you Itachi."_

This was bound to be a long night.

As for where Levia was in all this…

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

Itachi sat on the edge of his room's window and looked up to the full moon sky before a small smile graced his lips. "If you're here, it must have worked out." He said as he looked down on his lap

Levia opened one of her eyes and _hissed_ before closing them.

Itachi petted Levia's scales. "…I wish I could understand what you were saying."

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

I slowly sat up from the bed and looked to my right where Mei was sleeping with a peaceful blush on her face.

I looked out at the sky and noted that it was almost midnight.

I sighed lightly.

It was a dick move for a guy to just up and leave a woman without notice after spending the night in her company, but there was something I needed to do.

That being said, I would at least leave her something.

I took out a piece of paper from my handy dandy **Inventory** and wrote down a short note before I placed it on the side of the bed.

Of course, this alone wasn't going to be enough.

I needed to leave her with something memorable…

A thought came to mind

" _Hmm…this should be interesting."_

I first formed a hollow flower of ice through **Ice Release** before I filled it with lava from **Lava Release** , creating a glowing crystal flower filled with lava. The intense light from the molten lava and the crystalline structure of the ice flower created a picturesque light show that illuminated the room like a disco ball except…better.

I placed a few seals on it to prevent the lava from solidifying and to prevent the ice from melting. They were formed from my energy, after all, so I could at least do this much. With that, I folded the paper note and placed the flower inside so that the light show wouldn't wake her up.

I then looked at her gorgeous face and parted a few strands of her hair before I kissed her deeply. She moaned and subconsciously responded to my affection causing my lower body to get active again.

" _Fucking_ _ **Gamer's Body**_ …" I thought as I regretfully separated from her. Even though we had gone _several_ rounds, my body literally did not get exhausted. It was like I was automatically replenished after each "burst".

" _First you don't let me die from getting my organs painfully torn out, then you prevent me from getting drunk, and_ now _you give me an everlasting case of blue balls every time I get some…"_ I thought with irritation as I entered an **Empty ID** so that I wouldn't disturb Mei as I got out of the bed.

I put on some **henge** clothing before I hit into my thumb and drew a line of blood across the coiling snake tattoo on my right wrist.

I slapped my palm on my wrist.

 **Kuchiyose!**

In a puff of smoke, Levia appeared on my wrist.

Since **ID** 's were basically just superimposed mirror realities, they were connected so it didn't block me from summoning Levia if I needed to.

She looked at me and _hissed_.

I nodded. "I am all set here, girl. Just a few more stops before we get on our way."

She coiled around me and rested on my shoulder before licking my face.

I scratched her head. "Don't worry about me, I'll get over it. How are Itachi and Kabuto?"

 _hisss_

"Good," I replied with a nod. "They deserve the rest."

With that, I left the room and looked to the sky before rocketing off into the air. My body quickly catapulted through the sky as I traveled back to Konoha through my **ID**. It took me a little while before I could see the village in the distance.

Because of the existence of the spacetime barrier surrounding Konoha, even if I entered the village on foot while inside my **ID** , as soon as I tried to escape the **ID** , the spatial fluctuations would cause the barrier to throw me out. Therefore, I landed on the ground and exited the **ID**.

There were very few back entrances to the village that only a handful of high ranking individuals knew about. They were mostly used in emergencies hence why I never bothered to use them…until now of course.

Using such an entrance located a few miles off the East gate of the village, I arrived within Konoha. Like a ghost, I rapidly traveled through the village before I arrived upon my apartment complex.

Using my **stealth** skills, I went into my teacher's apartment and snuck past her traps before going into her room. Seeing her sleeping peacefully, I simply gave her a kiss on her forehead before I disappeared out of the room and the complex.

Everything up till now had basically started with her. She was kind of like a big sister to me in a way.

I looked up again at the sky for a brief instant before I moved to stealthily traverse across the village. I soon came across the Uzumaki-Namikaze household and stood at the front door. I could sense that Kushina's chakra signature was stable and fluctuations rhythmically, indicating that she was sleeping. Minato was still at the Hokage Office most likely doing his Hokage duties.

Opening the door with my chakra signature, I went into the house and quietly made my way up to Mito's room to find her sleeping there with the necklace I had made her around her neck. I hovered over her form for a beat before I gently picked her up, making sure to keep her from waking up.

" _She's so adorable when she sleeps…"_

 **PD!**

In a flash, I appeared inside the vast white expanse of my personal dimension. From my **inventory** , I took out a ceremonial altar in the center of which was a bed that I placed her on.

I gently stroked her hair, causing her to shuffle slightly.

This little munchkin was sleeping in a fetal position…

So damn cute.

I sighed. "For these past few years, I've been thinking about what I wanted to do with you…Matatabi." I turned around to look at the giant blue flaming cat creature that was laying on the ground and looking at me somewhat expectantly while waving her tails.

" **Please, anything could be better than staying here…it's just so boring and empty."** She said before she slightly peeled up as she tilted her head to look at Mito. " **Are you going to seal me in that little thing?"**

I nodded. "You don't sound too unwilling."

The cat yawned, showing off its fangs. " **Killing you would probably just trap me here and there's also the question if I would even be able to. Even besides that…"** the cat rested her chin on the back of her paws. " **Hashirama caught me during one of my decade long cat naps…point is that I don't really do much out in the wild. As a matter of fact, I've found my human hosts much more interesting than anything I could do alone. What is that phrase you all use? Curiosity killed the cat?"**

She happily wagged her tails.

Huh…

"I'm still surprised about how you've been taking Yugito's death."

" **You humans die all the time."** The cat began. " **I loved Nii, I really did, always trying to prove herself and everything, but something like this was bound to happen. You all seem to have some kind of sick fascination with killing each other, but that is also part of what I find interesting about you all."**

This was going much smoother than I thought it would.

I raised both my brows. "…You're much different than that ape."

" **Son?"** She questioned with a bored yawn. " **He had a few moments of freedom before he got himself sealed inside a** _ **baby**_ **of all creatures…That arrogant monkey had it coming."** She laughed derisively. " **I wonder how crappy he feels now that he's stuck in the body of a creature so weak…hahaha, his pride must be shattered."**

I watched her for a moment before my expression softened.

I could empathetically sense that she had no true ill feelings…just true curiosity.

"Protect her for me," I asked. "I'm going to be out for a while."

Matatabi perked up. " **This is a first."** She began as she appraised me. " **I've always ever been sealed inside a human to be used to hurt other individuals…I've never been sealed to protect something."** Saying so, she stood up and walked closer towards me before laying down only a few feet away from Mito and me.

"Take care of her."

" **I will…this kitten is much too adorable for me to lose."**

"She is isn't she?" I said before I saw Mito's body begin to stir.

My eyes glowing, I sent chakra through her system and targeted the chakra centers in her brain, causing her to relax once more. I then placed my hand on Matatabi, idly noting that the flame covering her body was pretty hot and quite painful to the touch.

From our point of contact, rows of Fūinjutsu script spread throughout her body meanwhile, the Fūinjutsu formula for the **Four Symbols Seal** appeared on Mito's stomach. Soon red chakra was expelled from Matatabi and sucked into the seal causing her body to decrease in size until she was fully absorbed.

And then everything was silent.

I carefully picked Mito up and wrapped her with a blanket before I went into my **Empty ID**. Then, I exited the village and left the **ID** before sneaking _back_ into the village through one of its hidden entrances and again making my way to the Uzumaki-Namikaze household, all the while making sure Mito remained asleep…

" _God this is so inconvenient…"_

I thought with a sigh as I finally placed down Mito on her bed. If I had tried to exit the **PD** while inside the village, not only would I have been launched out by the spacetime barrier, I also would have triggered the barrier's alarm system which would defeat the entire purpose of me coming here quietly. I softly tucked her in with a blanket before I took out some of the trinkets I had gotten from Sunagakure and placed it on the table by her bedside. I figured she'd have much more is a use for it than me.

Then, I perked up.

"Yoru…What are you doing here?" Kushina asked from the door to Mito's room. "I thought you were still in the exams."

I stood up. "Something came up so I wanted to see her again…" I said as I turned around.

Kushina frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I really like you Kushina," I said as I walked towards her and gave her a hug. "I always feel at home when I'm around you…even when you irritate me. You're like the closest thing to a mother that I've ever had and for that, I want to thank you."

Her body froze as she slowly reciprocated my hug. "Why are you…"

"I'm just telling you now before I piss you off," I said wryly.

"Yoru…there is nothing you could do that would make me _actually_ mad."

I chuckled. "Ehh, we'll see."

She separated from me and furrowed her brows as she looked up at my face. "What the hell are you planning on doing?"

"As I said…something that will annoy you greatly."

Before she could react, my eyes glowed as I used two fingers to jab at the weak point on her neck. With her defenses being lax, she was unable to stop the invasion of my chakra in time before her body suddenly slumped as she fell asleep.

" _Make that one of many things…"_

I carried her back to her room and opened the door to see Naruto standing on the bed and rubbing his eyes groggily.

I placed Kushina down and covered her body with blankets.

"Mommy…" Naruto said as he gazed at Kushina's unconscious form.

"She's fine," I said as I patted his head. "She's just a little tired."

He crawled to her side and lay down next to her.

I looked him in the eye. "Take care of your mom and your big sis, alright kiddo?"

Naruto looked at her before looking at me with a serious gaze that on him only looked adorable. "Hn!" He said with a nod.

I stuck out my pinkie. "You gotta promise."

There was no hesitation as he wrapped his pinkie around mine and shook. "I'll always protect mommy and big sister Mito!"

I smiled and rubbed his head. "I don't doubt you will…get some sleep," I said as I turned around to leave. "And try to contain your mom's wrath tomorrow morning…"

I left and closed the door behind me.

With that, I exited the home and stealthily left the village before my gaze sharpened. I didn't use a **henge** this time as I put on my Anbu gear. Since I had still done missions for them, my gear had been upgraded along with my growing size.

I donned my grey flak jacket on top of my dark sleeveless undershirt before slipping on my black gloves that reached above my elbow. I attached the metal arm guards to my arms and pulled up the excess cloth of my undershirt to cover the lower portion of my face up to my nose.

Engraved on my right shoulder was the **Natural Healing** seal I had developed all those years ago.

On my left deltoid was the signature Konoha Anbu tattoo that resembled a red flame.

That made four tattoos total including the snake summoning tattoo on my right wrist and the **Cursed Tongue Seal** on my well…tongue.

" _Am I getting addicted to these things…? Hopefully I'm not encouraging Mito to get them."_

At that thought, I focused on the **Amenotokotachi** signal I had kept on Obito and followed it.

"You ready girl?"

 _hisss_

I dashed into the forest and traversed towards my destination.

The only reason I had not bothered to contact Obito directly in these past few years was that I hadn't had any confidence in beating him as long as he could phase through my attacks. I had spent most of my time creating **Space Lock** for the very purpose of the evening the playing field. I had hoped to be able to enjoy trashing people during the chunin exams before I went off to deal with him, but his sudden appearance had made it evident that I couldn't wait any longer.

My eyes narrowed. " _He's really here…"_ I thought as I gazed at the two statues depicting Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. Upon Madara's head, Obito stood there silently with what a gunbai on his back. The weapon was a wide fan with tomoe on it and had a long handle with bandages wrapped around the base. At its end, it had a long chain attached to it, at the other end of which was a sickle.

I paused for a moment and whispered to Levia who was in my shirt, "Take these and hide. You know what to do." I said as I pulled out the four ice rods from my **Inventory**. Levia looked at me somewhat worried before she nodded and swallowed them. She then slithered out of my clothing and burrowed underground.

After watching her disappear, I narrowed my eyes and entered my **ID** before appearing on the Madara statue.

Dense amounts of energy coalesced within my palm as a fiercely screeching, powerfully spinning, blue ball of chakra formed on the palms of my hands.

I exited my **ID**.

 **Rasenshuriken!**

The attack blasted Obito in the back, however, the reaction I expected did not occur.

The force of the attack threw him forward, but the war fan on his back deflected the attack away, causing it to explode in a massive blue orb of energy in the opposite distance.

Obito flipped in midair before he landed on the Hashirama Statue's fingertip. "That wasn't a pleasant greeting."

I glanced at him stoically and jumped down onto the tips of Madara's fingers. "…It would have sent you off pretty nicely though."

Obito removed his mask before tossing it aside. He grabbed the handle of his war fan and unsheathed it from his back before staring me down with a smile.

"Let's get on with this dance, shall we?"

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

Obito and Yoru stared at each other from across the fingertips of the two great statues, their hair waving in the wind…

Then they moved.

With a single hand seal, Obito expelled a great orange stream of fire towards Yoru, who responded by expelling an equally tremendous torrent of white flames. The attacks collided with monstrous intensity, the heat of which caused the air to visibly distort while their luminosity shone so lustrously that it lay visible in the night sky for kilometers away.

Yoru abruptly launched off the statue and outstretched his right hand as he pierced through the flaming attack. The surging flames were absorbed by the **Dark Release** mark on his palm until Yoru promptly reached the attack's source and stared down at the wide-eyed Obito before mercilessly smashing his mouth shut. The force of Yoru's explosively surging forward momentum caused Obito's body to crash through multiple layers of the statue, the structure trembling as a result as fractures spread throughout.

His gaze portraying intense fury, Yoru burst out the other end of the statue and smashed Obito's face into the valley wall. He flew upwards with a burst of speed, mercilessly dragging Obito's face through the solid stone causing debris the splinter out of along the way.

The Uchiha's face warped with rage.

Right before Yoru reached the summit of the valley, Obito slammed his fist against its wall, thick roots furiously erupting in response. The powerful wooden appendages slammed into Yoru and crashed his body into the opposite valley wall.

His gunbai and sickle in hand, Obito dashed across the tree roots that were acting like a bridge between the two valley ends. He raised his sickle before in a flicker, Obito arrived in front of Yoru who was pinned against the canyon wall by the roots.

He mercilessly brought his weapon down towards Yoru's head.

Yoru immediately accessed his **Inventory** inside his mouth and spit out a kunai that jet past Obito's cheek, a small thin line of blood spurting from his face.

 **Amenotokotachi!**

Just as the bladed weapon was a hair's breadth from cracking his cranium, in a flash, Yoru switched spatial positions with the kunai and appeared behind Obito.

A grand flaming ball formed above his palm in a bursting pulsating fashion.

 **Scorch Style: Great Steaming Explosive Blast!**

Yoru brought down his arm.

The blazing ball of energy crashed into Obito's body, the Uchiha's forward attack momentum preventing him from reacting to the attack. He was blasted into the lake of the valley floor below before the energy from the blast erupted violently.

In an instant, the lake water below was completely vaporized.

The waterfall continued to drip.

Yoru landed on the solid earth that used to contain water as he peered through the steam that obscured his view-

A gale of wind abruptly dispersed the steam.

Obito returned his gunbai to its resting position by his side, a cyan-blue ethereal rib cage surrounding his body.

Yoru's gaze remained impassive.

He took a step forward-

 **Swift Release-**

And blurred.

 **x3!**

The ground beneath Yoru caved beneath his feet as he burst forward with explosive force.

In an instant, he was right above Obito's **Susanoo** rib cage, his fist cocked back and his gaze steeled.

Chakra built up in his fists.

Immense wind pressure visibly gathered on Yoru's fist as he brought it down.

Obito's pupils constricted and he quickly released more chakra and braced for the impact, his **Susanoo** now formed into a half skeleton.

They collided.

With colossal force, Yoru released the gathered chakra on impact with the **Susanoo** , instantly smacking it into the ground and shattering its bony structure. Obito's eyes widened from the incredible force of the impact as his back wrecked the ground below. His body cratered the earth and caused cracks to spread from his back's point of impact to the ground. The valley trembled and cracks ran up the walls of the **Valley of the End** causing huge chunks of debris to crash into the now bare ground below.

Yoru's hand reached down past the shattered ethereal skeletal ribs as he grabbed Obito's downed form by the scruff of his shirt. Yoru's forehead gleamed with a silver metallic hue before he bashed it against Obito's face, causing blood to spurt out.

"Why?" Yoru asked placidly as he looked down at Obito with slightly furrowed brows. "No matter how much I think about it, I cannot understand why you turned out this way."

A short, barely visible, burst of steam accompanied Obito's closing wounds as he grinned. "Don't tell you're showing emotion…you toaster?"

Yoru's brows twitched.

A sickle in grasp, Obito ferociously swung his arm upward, the blade gleaming in the moonlight.

Yoru reacted immediately and moved to halt the advancement of the attack with his **Steel Release** coated hands, however, the blade's sharpness surpassed his expectation. The sound of metal sliding against metal reverberated against the valley walls as the scythe tore into Yoru's palm, his eyes marginally widened, fresh blood flowing down the blade.

Using this moment, Obito repulsed himself by kicking off of Yoru's chest, tearing the shirt that was in Yoru's grasp. In the same movement, with his hand firmly clasped around the chain, Obito _yanked_ , the blade slicing through Yoru's fingers. Simultaneously, Obito made a single hand seal and shot out a scorching orb from his mouth while sequentially swinging his gunbai at the attack, utilizing a spinning momentum to augment the tempest that blew forward and excited the ball of flame resulting in its expansion.

Every movement happened successively in a synchronized flowing motion.

The flaming orb encompassed Yoru's view as it approached to consume him.

Yoru shot out his uninjured right arm.

Flesh and fire made intimate contact as Yoru sought to absorb the energy of the devastating fire with his **Dark Release**. The sheer magnitude of the impact caused his body to slide back, but he quickly gained ground as the earth gave way like dough under his heavy steps and caused his feet to sink within-

 **"!"**

A chain attached sickle shot out from the fire.

Time slowed down in his view.

Yoru pivoted his body 90 degrees, sliding his right foot back across the ground.

The blade flew merely millimeters past his face, short strands of his hair sheared from the armament.

Just as the sickle whistled by, Obito pulled back the chain, propelling it backward, the weapon's crescent blade poised to decapitate.

Yoru snagged the tool's handle from mid-air and utilized **Magnet Release** on the chain to careen Obito towards him.

"Predictable," Obito stated as he smashed down on Yoru with the edge of his gunbai.

Yoru raised the sickle with his free hand to negate the impact, but his body was sent crashing back first into the ground, sinking beneath it as if it were clay.

Using the sickle in his single working hand, Yoru pushed back against the weight of Obito's gunbai as the weapon pushed down against the sickle.

Its honed blade threatened to slit Yoru's throat.

His two hands on the gunbai's handle, Obito strained to push the arched blade of the sickle down into Yoru.

Obito expression of assuredness fueled his bulging arms to exert more pressure below.

Yoru's body began to sink deeper into the ground, fracturing it further.

They were deadlocked.

Yoru looked up at Obito lightly, uncaring of the severity of the situation he was in. "They treated you as family." He stated softly.

Obito's expression staggered for the briefest of moments.

Utilizing this instant, Yoru's now healed left fist suddenly connected intimately with Obito's jaw.

Obito's head whipped back with a _snap_ as he was catapulted across the bare landscape of the vaporized lake and bounced through it like a skidding pebble.

Yoru flashed…

 **Swift Release!**

And abruptly appeared in front of him.

"Minato was like a father to you."

Yoru sank his **steel release** knuckles into Obito's throat, the Uchiha's eyes widening in pain as he coughed harshly, before his body was brutally thrashed against the valley wall.

Yoru's body blurred once more.

 **Swift Release!**

"Kushina like a mother."

Yoru grabbed both sides of Obito's face before he rammed his knee into the Uchiha's nose, shattering it mercilessly and sending his body barreling into the air. At the same instant, Yoru leaped off the ground and materialized in front of Obito once more.

The Uchiha's gaze was disoriented as his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

"Kakashi." Yoru began as he grasped Obito's face in midair with his right palm. "A brother."

It was as if a million paper bombs erupted at once as an all-consuming eruption of heat and energy burst from Yoru's palm as he utilized **explosion release**. The fire expunged from Yoru's hand was concentrated in the likeness of a blowtorch as it scorched Obito's face beyond recognition.

After a moment, he stopped.

Smoke discharged from Obito's near completely burnt off skull.

"You betrayed them all."

Yoru released his grip, Obito's body flimsily collapsing to the ground.

Yoru looked at Obito's corpse unemotionally before he began saying, "But you know who you would have hurt the most if they found out what you had become?" Yoru asked as turned around at the same moment that Obito's "corpse" dissipated like an illusion. "Rin."

Instantly, the atmosphere coagulated.

"Shut up," Obito said calmly… _too_ calmly as he gazed at Yoru with such intensity that his eyes almost seemed to penetrate through him. "You…don't get to say her name."

Yoru's expression stiffened.

He heard his heart beat in his chest.

He _felt_ it.

A horrifying aura descended upon Yoru as both Obito's Mangekyou Sharingan gleamed eerily in the full moon's light.

Yoru could feel the malevolent feelings within Obito's energy twist and swirl around him…

Before they burst.

The earth quaked as massive volumes of darkish cyan-blue energy coalesced around Obito's form.

A gargantuan 100-meter colossal avatar of energy actualized, the sheer energy from its formation catalyzing the ruination of the valley as large fissures expanded throughout its walls.

Obito's body rose towards the center of the bipedal ethereal armored warrior as he glanced down at Yoru.

Yoru looked up, his countenance grim, as he realized that _both_ Obito's eyes were still well and fine despite him having no doubt used one to cheat death. " _What the hell is happening…?"_

A chill emanated from Obito's gaze as he commanded his full humanoid **Armored Susanoo** to raise up high the blade of aura it held. The mere action generated tempestuous winds so grand, that Yoru's body inevitably slid back as the avatar began to elevate its sword. The power from its ascent caused the clouds above split in two before the chakra sword reached its apex.

It was like time became static.

Obito's malevolent glacial gaze peered down below at his target who appeared merely as an ant from his dominant vantage position.

Before he brought it down.

With a quiet sigh, Yoru looked up and witnessed the air beneath the blade distort as it descended with indomitable power.

Time seemed to slow down in his view as Yoru closed his eyes-

"You…"

And Sage Yoru opened them.

" _Scum_."

With a crash, the **Susanoo** sword blasted the ground the area where Yoru was in, the raw energy from the blade slicing up the valley in two right down the middle.

No form of joy was evident on Obito's face as he looked up ahead of him to witness Yoru floating in the air indifferently, his gaze level with Obito's own.

Yoru suddenly looked up towards the sky as he now sensed an individual within his detection range, his gaze seemingly penetrating through the layers of clouds and into the stratosphere.

Yoru's lips twitched upwards in a half-hearted smile for a short moment before he turned back to face Obito. "No matter how many piles of _scum_ line up in front of me…" Yoru began as colossal amounts of magnetic particle dust gathered from the blow the earth and circled around him in numerous bands. "It doesn't change the fact that you are all fundamentally _worthless_."

The particles merged together under Yoru's command and formed a throne on which Yoru sat and crossed his legs. "What was that saying you apparently used right before you rushed towards your supposed death?" Yoru asked in faux intrigue.

Obito's expression twisted in rage before his **Susanoo** wrenched a long, thick, magatama-bound ethereal string from the palms of its hands.

Yoru pointed a finger in the air. "Those who break the rules are _scum_ …"

A minuscule pure shining dot of light, akin to a firefly, emerged on the tip of Yoru's finger.

Before it expanded.

In a big bang of energy, the 'Firefly' transformed into the sun as the shining dot exponentially enlarged to immense proportions, its diameter no less than half the **Susanoo's** size.

"But those who betray their comrades are worse than _scum_." Yoru tilted his head in amusement. "I wonder then…does that make you _super_ scum?"

Obito gave a shout as he hurled the **Yasaka Magatama** , the depths of his fury evident given by how quickly it propelled towards Yoru.

The Sage's expression turned neutral and he bent his index finger down.

 **Noble Sun**

The white, sun-like ball of energy traveled forward to meet with the magatama beads in mid-air.

And then they made contact.

As soon as the **Yasaka Magatama** touched the sun, time seemed to pause for a moment.

There was a flash of light…

Then an explosion.

The shockwave from the blast was so immense that Yoru quickly formed a spherical shield of chakra-enhanced metallic dust around his body to protect himself. The turbulence from the surges of wind caused cracks to form in Yoru's defenses, however, his expression remained calm as the tempestuous storm of energy halted-

 **"!"**

Sage Yoru's eyes slowly magnified in incredulity.

It was too unexpected.

Faster than he could respond, two large black Shuriken, reminiscent of Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan, sliced through both ends of his metallic sphere shield as if it was nothing but air…

And cut off his arms.

Those weren't normal Shuriken.

 **"!"**

An ethereal sword suddenly appeared in front of Yoru and pierced through his chest. His form plummeted downward with the sword still lodged in his body before he was pinned to the ground below, blood dribbling from his lips.

" _Ouch…"_ Yoru thought with a grimace as Obito looked down at him from above.

Obito sunk his blade deeper, the sheer width of which threatened to bisect Yoru. "You failed to save her…even though you should have been able to."

Time seemed to become static to Yoru.

Slowly, his expression became solemn.

Not much context was needed in order for him to understand who ' _her_ ' referred to.

Thoughts, multitudinous as the stars, swirled like a hurricane inside Yoru's mind.

It was as if pieces of a giant puzzle began to come together and fit in perfectly.

And he finally understood.

"You…fool…" Yoru said as he coughed out blood. "All of this…because of a woman…"

"If that's all you have to say…" Obito stated as the grip on his **Susanoo** sword tightened. "Then die."

Yoru's expression became placid. "Levia."

The ground trembled and quaked as a whirlpool of metallic sand spun underneath the **Susanoo** , the titan's body staggering from its disproportionate position on the earth.

Obito's expression faltered from the sudden reversal of the situation before he looked down to see a ball of light shining from below the metallic sand dune…

And all he saw was a flash.

 **Sage Art: Storm Style: Leviathan's Breath!**

A beam, as fast as light, struck the **Susanoo** on its sternum, the attack forcing it completely off balance and causing its gigantic body to fall backward.

As Obito tried to keep himself balanced, Levia shrunk herself and dashed towards Yoru before sinking her fangs in his neck.

In but a few moments, his limbs regrew completely.

Sage Yoru stood up and rubbed his arms and wrists testily before he glanced down at Levia. "My dear, you should get away from here…" He looked at the **Susanoo** that was trying to right itself. "I'm going to end it this instant."

It took a moment for Levia to understand what Yoru was saying.

Her eyes widened as she _hissed_ in anger and worry.

Yoru looked down at her and smiled before bending down and kissing the top of her head. "Don't you worry about me…I still have one life to spare today, remember?"

Though unwilling, Levia knew that time was of the essence so she _hissed_ once more and flew away as far as she reasonably could.

She knew that what Yoru was going to do next…would annihilate _everything_.

Yoru looked at Levia as she vanished off to the distance before he turned towards Obito whose **Susanoo** finally burst free from the pit of metallic sand.

He walked towards him.

Obito faced the approaching Yoru, his gaze severe, before he formed six black Shuriken, three in each hand, in the likeness of his Mangekyō.

Yoru's gaze became somewhat dignified as he saw them and, with his **energy resonance** , he realized what about them had been so dangerous.

They could cut space.

 **Space Lock** was a barrier that prevented individuals from utilizing space-time techniques that allowed them to teleport or connect to independent spaces. This was because Yoru had never considered someone flat out _cutting_ through space.

It seemed like he would have to make adjustments later on.

All these thoughts merely flashed through his mind in an instant.

Obito hurled the six Shuriken, his intent on dicing Yoru into seven parts made blatant.

 **Kamui Shuriken!**

Yoru faced the approaching destructive Shuriken with a tranquil expression.

Time appeared to slow down in his sight.

 **Accelerated Analysis!**

Yoru took a breath…

And opened his palm.

 _50 meters_

A minuscule, nearly unnoticeable, ball of darkness formed on the palm of his right hand.

 _35 meters_

It fed on Yoru's chakra as if it was alive, its voracious appetite allowing it to siphon Yoru until he became nearly empty. The ball only expanded to be about 25 cm before Yoru's vision began to swim as even his life force was drained.

 _20 meters_

Circling around the pitch black orb of energy was an ash grey ring, reminiscent of a planet's own. Sage Yoru began to revert from the loss of chakra, but he remained staring at the projectiles making their way towards him.

" _ **Sage Art: Dark Style-**_ "

 _5 meters_

Yoru's body became weak as the last of his life force drained from his body, his breath shortening and his heartbeat near stopping…

Before he let it go.

" **Spiralling** **Black Hole**."

His body collapsed.

The dark orb then floated in the air.

Until the shuriken made contact.

As soon as both attacks touched, the collision that Obito was expecting did not occur.

The dark orb with the ash-grey ring simply sucked in and swallowed the attacks, the energy from which catalyzed its expansion.

The dark orb grew and grew, absorbing any and every form of energy that was in the vicinity.

Thermal energy, light energy, kinetic energy, natural energy…

Chakra.

They were all absorbed.

Obito's expression changed massively as the ball of darkness consumed everything in its path, the speed and ferocity of its expansion so great that he couldn't even move to react. The **Susanoo** he was so reliant on was instantly broken apart into particles of energy as soon as the **Spiralling Black Hole** touched it…

Before it swallowed him.

And everything went dark.

From 100s of kilometers in the distance, Levia watched quietly as the now dome of dark energy spread and consumed not only the **Valley of The End** but also the nearby mountain ranges and natural structures surrounding it.

Nothing was safe.

The diameter of the dome slowly grew and grew after its initial burst of expansion, its reach measuring over 10s of kilometers after nearly 10 minutes.

Then it stopped.

As if reaching its maximum size, the dome of darkness merely stayed the way it was for a moment, quietly existing.

Then, a crack appeared on it, a line of white light/energy leaking from it.

Then, another crack appeared, one larger than before.

Then more cracks…

Until it burst.

All the energy culminated in the ball of darkness was released at once in a cataclysmic burst of raw energy so intense, that it instantly vaporized the numerous mountain ranges in an over a 100-kilometer radius as it spread.

The dome of bright energy could easily be seen from incredulous distances away.

Nothing could stop the tyrannical might of the all-consuming energy wave.

The aftershock of the blast fractured the landscape for a dozen kilometers more.

And then, it was silent.

…

…

…

Levia was far enough away that all she felt was a gust of wind from the attack.

When it all ended, she could see the three levels of damage that had occurred.

The third level was caused by the aftershock and it was only a few kilometers from the edge of the damage radius. Only fractured rock formations and some levels trees were the evidence of its existence.

The second level was from the wave of energy that had propagated after the black dome had cracked…and there was nothing. The entire land, over 100 kilometers in diameter, was bare.

Then the first level…It was where the **Valley of the End** once stood. Now, there was merely a crater, over twenty kilometers deep and wide, devoid of everything but two small human forms.

All of this, Levia saw as she speedily flew towards Yoru.

Yoru shakily stood up, his body weak from his revival, before he immediately dropped to a knee and gasped for breath.

 **Sage Art: Dark Style: Spiralling Black Hole**

It was the name for the technique he had inadvertently created when trying to mix senjutsu chakra with a **Dark Release: Rasenshuriken**.

That had been a mistake.

The only saving grace was that he had tested it in his **ID** so there had been no damage done to the real world.

 **Dark Release** normally allowed him to absorb the energy from attacks into the diamond mark on his right palm. However, once Natural energy was added to the mix, **Dark Release** would absorb _all_ forms of energy…even his own. It was a suicide attack that took all the energy inside his body to form a ball of darkness that would consume as much energy in the surroundings as it could until it reached its maximum capacity. After which, it would just burst and release all the accumulated energy it had gathered. The amount it could hold before bursting was wholly depended on the amount of energy it had taken for it to form. Therefore, if Yoru had more chakra, the ball of death would be able to absorb much more energy before bursting, and its destructive capacity would be that much more devastating.

It wasn't a technique he planned on using often.

"Yo Levia…mind helping me out?" Yoru asked as the snake floated down in front of him.

She hissed angrily and bit his arm.

There was no energy transference from that bite.

Yoru sighed. "I'm sorry." He looked down and gently stroked her head. "I've made you worry."

Levia stopped and looked up at him before biting his arm once more, this time, energy flooded Yoru's veins, his chakra levels increasing and his wounds healing.

With this vital boost, Yoru stood back up and walked towards Obito before looking down at his sprawled out form.

Both his eyes were open, however, one of his eyes was now a milky white.

He had lost his sight from **Izanagi**.

But he was still very much alive.

He slowly turned his gaze up towards Yoru and asked, "Why…?"

 _Why couldn't you save her?_

The unspoken words were understood.

Yoru's expression was invariable.

Everything up until now seemed like a joke…this entire conflict seemed to have stemmed from Obito's misconception that Rin had died that day.

The Four tails attack.

The council massacre.

Their fight today…

All of this could have been avoided.

And that's what pissed Yoru off even more.

So, that's why he told him. "Obito…" Yoru began, his vision somber. "Rin…she's been alive for years now. I never failed to save her…she visits your grave every day you know."

A silent wind blew between them.

Obito face seemed to have blanked for a moment, his brain processing the words he had just heard before his eyes widened.

Then…Yoru felt it.

His heart _thumped_ with a bang and his body shook from the violent influx of emotions he could detect from Obito.

Yoru felt he couldn't even breathe from how potent they were…

 _Loss_

 _Confusion_

Then

 _Understanding_

 _Realization_

 _Shock_

 _Disbelief_

 _ **Despair**_

Yoru took a step back, his eyes trembling as **Empathy** allowed him to experience those emotions as if they were his own.

But more than anything, two emotions stood out, their existence so evident they seemed corporeal.

 _ **Betrayal**_

 _ **RAGE**_

"ZET…SUU!" Obito yelled out with hatred that nearly consumed his being, tears leaking out his eyes.

Yoru empathetically understood.

Whoever Zetsu was…they had driven Obito to this state.

They had betrayed him.

That being said. "I understand," Yoru said. "However, I still need to deal with another one…is he yours?" He asked as he looked up to see a man floating a couple of kilometers above.

Yoru had sensed that individual up into the second layer of the atmosphere during his time as Sage Yoru, but obviously, he hadn't been able to divert the attention necessary to deal with him.

Suddenly, Obito's eyes widened forebodingly.

His body disappeared like an illusion.

And he appeared behind Yoru.

 **⁉️**

Yoru felt a threat to his life like he'd never felt before.

And it wasn't coming from Obito.

From up near the clouds, a man with ripple patterned purple eyes floated in the air and looked down below as if he were a god looking at mere mortals.

He uttered a word.

A word that Yoru's excellent hearing picked up and caused every cell in his body to vibrate.

" **Shinrai Tensei** ,"

Then, another word sounded out behind him, one that he hadn't expected to hear coming from his opponent.

 **"Susanoo!"**

Everything happened too quickly.

All Yoru felt was his body shake to its core as a repulsive force, unlike anything he had ever experienced, slammed into the **Susanoo** surrounding him and Obito with near-unprecedented force.

Then, as the earth shattered and the ground caved beneath…everything went dark.

Yoru took a few deep breaths and flinched a bit as his body ached from the impact. Feeling his surroundings enclosed, Yoru exerted a bit of force and pushed away some of the heaping chunks of rock covering his body.

Yoru then blinked and looked inside his nearly completely torn up shirt to see Levia poking her head from within, her injuries relatively light.

With a gentle sigh, Yoru then looked down below at Obito's body.

His eyes were wide open and this time, they were both blank white.

He had now lost both his eyes.

Then, six forms dropped down from above, surrounding Yoru and Obito.

Each of them wore a black cloak with red clouds

Each of them wore the headbands of the Hidden Rain village, their symbol crossed out horizontally on the metal plate.

Each of them had black piercings on their face and body.

Each of them had nearly identical chakra signatures.

But, more important than all of that, each of them had the same purple ripple-patterned eyeballs.

Yoru's hairs stood on end. " _Akatsuki…Those eyes…have I seen or heard about them somewhere…?what are they…?"_

Yoru took a step back towards Obito's downed form and made sure there was contact between his shoe and Obito's body.

Then, what appeared to be the leader of the group, a man with short spiky orange hair looked down at Obito. "What is the meaning of this?"

He didn't reply.

The man remained silent for a moment before he outstretched his hand. "Very well."

Yoru spoke up, his brows furrowed. "Who are you?"

The man regarded Yoru for a moment and explained simply. "Pain."

 **"!"**

Besides the apparent leader, the other 5 bodies immediately rushed in towards Yoru and Obito.

Unfortunately, they were too late.

 **ID Create: Empty!**

Yoru, Levia, and Obito's body vanished.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

I took several breaths to calm my surging emotions and sat down, the quiet expanse of my **ID** relaxing my nerves.

I stayed like this for a while.

Then, I lifted my head up and looked at Obito.

The man's gaze was vacant.

His motionless body was sprawled out on the floor.

He was dead.

He had passed soon after I had transferred us to my **ID**.

It was as if he had simply lost the will to live after realizing that we were safe.

The only reason I had been able to use the **ID** was due to the fact that my earlier **Dark Release** attack had completely uprooted (and more than likely destroyed) the ice rods that I had used to create my **Space Lock** barrier.

Numerous thoughts went through my mind.

I looked up at the sky. "It's almost time Levia…we'll leave soon."

She _hissed_ somewhat sadly.

"Don't worry," I said in comfort. "We'll be back in time…we just need some time off."

I took out an empty scroll from my inventory and wrote down just about every piece of information I had gleaned from today. From Obito to those individuals from Amegakure and Akatsuki…and the name _Zetsu_.

I jotted them all down. I then closed the scroll before encrypting and sealing it which Fuuinjutsu. I made sure it was complex enough so that only someone with Minato and Kushina's level of expertise on the subject would be able to decipher it and unlock the scroll.

After that, I walked up to Obito's corpse and closed his eyelids. With the scroll in hand, I placed it on Obito's chest and placed his arms on top of it.

I waved my hand, conjuring a stream of flame that completely burnt off his clothing and removed any trace of battle from his form.

With that, I kneeled down and placed a hand on his body.

 **Mystical Healing!**

All the scars of battle that had been on his form disappeared.

 **Mystical Healing** could even heal up a rotting corpse to its previously healthy skin position, unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), the body remained dead despite looking perfectly fine.

Having healed up his scars, I then channeled **Ice Release** through my palms.

 **Ice Release: Ice Coffin**

The ice slowly encased his body while I used my mental faculties to shape it in the form of a respectable coffin. Next, I fogged up the more sensitive areas of his body that were exposed through the see-through crystal coffin.

I then implanted my **Amenotokotachi** mark on it.

Then…

" **Amenotokotachi** ,"

In a flash, a kunai appeared in my **ID** where the ice coffin had once been.

The same kunai I had stuck in Obito's grave days prior.

I think I was lost for a moment as I just stared blankly at the kunai.

I didn't know what I felt.

I felt a soft wet sensation on my cheek.

I snapped myself out of it and rubbed Levia's head. "Thank you," I said before standing up.

Levia coiled herself around my body and rested on my shoulders.

I stood still for a moment.

After, I straightened up.

"It's time."

 _ping!_

 **[System Update: 100%]**

Ping!

* * *

 **Grand Quest!**

 **Mission: Visit The Myriad Worlds!**

 **Reward: Excitement, Adventure, and Possibly Love!**

 **Failure: You'll live a pretty sad and meaningless existence if you don't at least visit a few of them.**

* * *

Ping!

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked the innate trait [Devour] by reaching [Gamer's Body] lvl Max and [Level 100]!**

 **Devour (Active)**

 **Absorb the essence of your defeated enemies and acquire a portion of their abilities and stats. Different entities and different forms of life utilize different forms of energy for their survival. You can take that energy.**

 **\- Absorb 1% - 10% of enemy's stats**

* * *

 **The skill [ID: Create] has been updated. Monster Instant Dungeons are no longer available nor required.**

 **ID: Create (Active)**

 **ID: Create is a skill that connects you to your very own pocket dimension that you can actualize in the world and drag those in contact with you inside through [ID: Yoru]. Your [ID: Yoru] is separate from the real world but also connected to it through you. You can also form an illusion barrier that acts as a 'mirror' of the real world that you can drag people in, travel in, or hide in using [ID: Empty]. Since the illusion barrier is a mirror of the actual world when you exit it, you'll find yourself in the same area you were at in the illusion barrier in the outside world. Finally, you can now travel to other worlds using the skill [ID: Travel]**

 **Available Dimensions:**

 **\- [ID: Empty]**

 **\- [ID: Yoru]**

 **\- [ID: Travel]**

* * *

Ping!

 **Congratulations! After reaching level 100, you have unlocked the skill: [ID: Travel]**

 **ID: Travel (Active):**

 **You are connected to the numerous worlds of the Tree. [ID: Travel] also known as [Inter-Dimensional Travel] allows you to travel to new worlds and explore new places. Access the list of Worlds and choose the world you want to visit.**

 **Worlds Visited:**

 **\- Naruto (Alternate)**

 **\- List of worlds…**

 **\- Cooldown: 3 months**

* * *

Ping!

 **You are going through some changes in your Gamer's Body. Due to this, your body and mind have been affected.**

Ping!

 **Gamer's Body (Passive) Lvl MAX [Puberty]**

 **\- 200% increase to HP and CP regeneration rate**

 **\- 200% Increase to HP and CP**

 **\- Resistances…**

 **\- (Puberty: Increase growth rate by 400% for a period of time. Lowers the Intensity of Gamer's Mind.)**

Ping!

 **[Gamer's Mind] Intensity has been affected by the effects of [Puberty]!**

Ping!

 **[Gamer's Mind] Intensity is now [50%]!**

 **Gamer's Mind (Passive) Intensity [50%]**

 **Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows a peaceful state of mind. Grants immunity to psychological status effects. The intensity level dictates how much Gamer's Mind influences your emotions. An intensity of 100% completely shuts off your capacity to feel emotion while an Intensity of 0% returns your emotional capability to its maximum possible state.**

* * *

Ping!

 **Your stat sheet has been updated due to the system update!**

Ping!

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Race: Human?**

 **Age: 14 years old**

 **Tier: 6-C**

 **Tier Bonus: 270% Status Effectiveness**

 **HP: 2784699/2784699 Regen: (83540 per min)**

 **CP: 5589000** **/5589000** **Regen: (223560 per min)**

 **CC: 100%**

 **STR: 3069**

 **VIT: 3327**

 **DEX: 3258**

 **INT: 3159**

 **WIS: 3054**

 **ENGY: 5750**

 **Stat Total: 21617**

 **Points: 0**

 **Ryo: 67,355,348**

* * *

 **Happy Birthday!**

 **Happy Birthday!**

 **Happy Birthday!**

* * *

There were a few more notifications that had to do with improvements to perks and whatnot, but one thing immediately caught my attention…aside from the fact that I was now 14.

" _No levels…?"_

I furrowed my brow in thought.

It seemed like I was now measured in _**Tiers**_ and that my strength was measured not only by my stats but also by the **Status Effectiveness** bonus given to me by my tier…

It seems like I needed to pay someone a visit.

"Levia, be patient for me for a little bit." I began as I looked at her.

"I need to go see a snake."

* * *

 **Stat Update**

 **Name: Yorudan**

 **Race: Human?**

 **Age: 11 → 14**

 **Level: 100 → N/A**

 **Tier: 7-B+ → 6-C**

 **Tier Bonus: N/A → 270%**

 **HP: 452755 → 2784699**

 **CP: 708660 → 5589000**

 **STR: 1606 → 3069**

 **VIT: 1460 → 3327**

 **DEX: 1606 → 3258**

 **INT: 1500 → 3159**

 **WIS: 1200 → 3054**

 **ENGY: 1968 → 5750**

 **Stat Total: 9340 → 21617**

 **Points: 0**

 **Skill Update**

 **Absolute Resonance: lvl 1 → Lvl 53**

 **Cooking: lvl 170 → lvl 200 [MAX]**

 **Deconstructive Analysis: lvl 30 → Lvl 100 [MAX] (Unlocked: Absolute Analysis)**

 **Energy Resonance: lvl 55 → Lvl 200 [MAX] (Unlocked: Absolute Resonance)**

 **Lying: lvl 95 → lvl 100 [MAX]**

 **Magnetic Flight: M-Hypersonic+: lvl 1 → lvl 45**

 **Physical Conditioning: lvl 96 → lvl 100 [MAX]**

 **Rasenshuriken: Lvl 1 → Lvl 100 [MAX]**

 **Toxin Resistance: lvl 94 → lvl 100 [MAX]**

 **Sage Art Dark Style: Spiralling Black Hole**

 **Sage Art Ice Style: Absolute Zero**

 **Sage Art Lightning Style: Limelight**

 **Sage Art Scorch Style: Noble Sun**

 **Sage Art Storm Style: Light Fang**

 **Shadow Clone Jutsu: lvl 420 → lvl 800**

 **Shunshin: lvl 155 → Lvl 200 [MAX]**

 **Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu: lvl 94 → lvl 100 [MAX]**

 **Wind Release: Flight: Lvl 3 → lvl 100 [MAX] (Unlocked: Wind Release: Massively Hypersonic Flight)**

 **Wind Release: M-Hypersonic Flight: lvl 1 → lvl 100 [MAX] (Unlocked: Wind Release: M-Hypersonic+ Flight)**

 **Wind Release: M-Hypersonic+ Flight: lvl 1 → lvl 33**

 **Yin Affinity: lvl 45 → lvl 100 [MAX]**

* * *

 **On another note, it's come to my attention that when I update a previous chapter or something like that, you all, for some reason, get emails about it. I never knew that was a thing and I'm sorry about that since it must feel like spam to you all. For future reference (actually, really just for today and possibly next week since I don't know what my schedule is gonna be like in a few months after my break from writing) I'm only going to post chapters on a set day which will most likely end up being Saturday. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience and what probably looked like spam to you all. My bad.**

 **Author's Note: Who would have thought that Obito would grow up to become and act just like Madara after getting his magical eyeballs back?**

 **Magnussen Osbourne: Yeah, the air up there is barely breathable, but as superhuman ninja who can destroy cities, mountains, and islands, I figured they would be fine up to that hight for at least the short period of time that they were there.**

 **nekoboy13: Jugo** _ **literally**_ **becomes insane when he uses sage transformation…personality change can and does occur. I just took the concept and tried to make it more interesting. Do you know what your criticisms remind me of? CinemaSins. That's not a compliment.**

 **coldblue2015: (1) yes, but the prerequisite is that they can** _ **cough**_ " **handle"** _ **cough**_ **his seed. I.E. it's hard for Yoru to knock someone up. Remember that entire thing about Yoru's cells being "arrogant"? It's more like they endocyte (consume) weaker cells and possibly take on their characteristics. This applies to his** _ **ahem**_ ' **reproductive' cells as well. (2) It's more exploration and to get away for a while until things calm down. (3) this chapter should answer your question.**

 **LuluViBritania: You're right, hence the reason Obito made a jab at Nagato's mortality. Obito was covered.**

 **TankerMDK: very good question. I'm sticking with the MCU since the comic is just way too expansive, however, I might decide to add a comic character(s)/ storylines or Marvel Movie character(s) that aren't part of the official current MCU. We'll see.**

 **For those who are unaware, the MCU is the Marvel Cinematic Universe.**


	31. Epilogue

'Normal Speech'

' _Thoughts'_

' **Bijuu/Summons/Gamer/Techniques'**

' _ **Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts/Techniques'**_

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for you. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you know I like fanfiction?)

* * *

 **Guess I didn't make it explicit enough but Yo** **ru is going to the canon Naruto Shippūden world NOT a Naruto Shippūden of his world**

 **Hmm, seems like I owe the Nasuverse people an apology for lowballing their danger level. Doing some research into it has enlightened me greatly into how fucked up that world is. It gets** **❗️❗️❗️❗️but as for Ophis...Don't know what I'll rate her and Great** **Red**

* * *

 _ **Epilogue**_

Kushina snapped open her eyes and hastily sat up from her bed, a form on her body falling off in response. She blinked and looked down at who had been hanging off of her only to see Mito soundly sleeping with Naruto behind her.

At the other end of the bed was the still and quiet form of the 4th Hokage.

It was still very early in the morning, she noticed.

Suddenly, the memories of last night came rushing back, her eyes widening in surprise. " _Yoru!"_

" _ **Oh? You're finally awake."**_

A familiar deep dark voice sounded out from the depths of her mind.

Kushina frowned slightly. "Kurama…"

Inside her mindscape, the Kyuubi lay lazily on a large "stone" and half-heartedly waved his tails " **Don't say my name so casually, it'll wear out."** He said with a yawn.

Since their relationship had become less strained during the past few years since Kushina had started talking to him, Kyuubi had been released from some of his more egregious restraints. Now, he was no longer pinned to a large rock with spikes going through all his limbs and tails. He was still trapped within Kushina with little hope of ever escaping, but it was better than nothing.

"…What happened?"

" **Isn't it obvious?"** Kurama said in disinterest. " **The kid knocked you out and tossed you besides your offspring, although…"** Kurama paused and smiled as if he knew something interesting. " **That's definitely not all he did."**

Her brows furrowed, Kushina asked. "Well? Don't keep me in suspense! Spill!"

Kurama snorted. " **You don't command me…"** he muttered before saying. " **Well, he allowed me to talk to my sister for the first time in over a century."**

Kushina's brain processed Kurama's words and their meaning.

Then she froze.

She hastily looked to her side at Mito and lifted up her shirt.

Kushina's eye widened. "He…!" She began in shock as she saw the Four Trigram Seal on her stomach.

" **Yep."** Kurama said in amusement. " **Your spawn crawled into the room under the direction of Matatabi and we were able to have a fun time picking on that monkey…ahh, that was a great night."** Kurama said in reminiscence.

Slowly putting the shirt down, Kushina asked the most pressing question that had been on her mind, the one that she really didn't know if she wanted the answer to "…Which one is Matatabi?"

Kurama smirked as he finally realized something interesting. " **She has two tails."**

Kushina's expression constrained. "The Council Massacre and the loss of the Two-Tailed Jinchuriki…"

News about what happened that night had been basically impossible for Kumogakure to suppress. They had not only lost around 24 of their top ninja's in a single night, but their Jinchuuriki had been said to have gone missing. Up until now, no one had had any idea who could have done it.

Sure, Kushina had had the fleeting thought that Yoru had been responsible, but considering how tightly guarded Kumo had been at the time, she hadn't really considered the thought before dismissing it. However, considering the fact that the two-tails was sealed within her own daughter and all the other evidence…there was only one conclusion she could logically come to.

Kushina tightly closed her eyes and massaged her temples before taking a few calming breaths.

Meanwhile, Kurama was having a blast within her mental landscape. " **Hahaha! I knew the kid was vicious, but I didn't think he was capable of something like this!"** He chuckled a little more. " **I can't say I don't like his style."**

Kushina took one more deep calming breath before asking herself. " _Why would he do that?"_

" **Isn't it obvious?"** Kurama asked with a snicker. " **He's a giant siscon. He probably killed them because they came after your little spawn."**

Kushina couldn't even become shocked at that.

She knew very well how obsessively overprotective Yoru was.

" **Yeah, to the point where he'd kill a Jinchuriki and implant the extracted tailed beast inside your progeny in order to protect her…that kid is insane."**

"…"

Kushina sighed. " _I can't even say I'm surprised…"_

" **So, what are you going to do?"**

She had to ruminate on that for a moment as she felt a headache coming on. " _I suppose Minato will have to know, but no one else."_

" **Your offspring already knows though…Matatabi is quite curious about human hosts apparently."**

"I'll deal with it."

Suddenly, Kurama's ears twitched as he slightly lifted his head. " **You've got visitors. Two of them. And they both seem anxious."**

Hearing that, Kushina faltered for a moment before asking the most important question, "How do you know that…?"

" **Obviously because I'm a sensor,"** Kurama stated half-heartedly with a closed eye. " **Plus I can detect negative emotions."**

Eyes twitching, Kushina then asked, "And why didn't you ever tell me this before?"

" **You're not my mother, I don't have to tell you everything."**

A vein bulged on Kushina's forehead before her hair started to sway dangerously.

Kurama closed his other eye and rested his head back in the rock. " **Save it, they're now right at your door."**

Right after he said that…

"Minato-sensei! Kushina-sensei!" A voice yelled from the first floor of the house.

Kushina instant forgot about her growing rage and her expression became normal as she heard the anxious shouts coming from a familiar voice. "Rin…!"

The loud shouts immediately woke up everyone else that was on the bed, Mito groggily rubbing her eyes and Naruto yawning with a tear leaking from one eye.

"What's wrong?" Minato asked as he sat up, his eyes half-lidded.

"I don't know," Kushina said as she hurriedly got out of bed.

Minato's gaze sharpened at the worry laced tone of Kushina's voice before he too got up after her and followed her to the door that she promptly whipped opened.

Kushina and Minato were startled back for a moment as Kakashi and Rin stood right in front of them.

Eyes narrowed solemnly from Kakashi's slightly distressed appearance and Ron's anxious gaze, Minato asked, "What happened?"

With a pause and a few calming breaths, Rin answered, "Obito…!"

Minato and Kushina had a pause before they looked at each other.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

Four figures blurred across the rooftops of Konoha, the wind whipping past their forms. In but a few moments, they arrived at the **Konoha Cemetery** where a small gathering of individuals had surrounded a specific tombstone.

Minato, with his Hokage attire, appeared at the back of the gathered bodies, Kushina, Rin and Kakashi landing beside him soon after.

"Everyone, please make way," Minato stated, gathering the attention of everyone present.

The people immediately made way for their Kage as some muttered 'Lord Hokage' in his wake.

Minato and the others traveled through towards the center of the small crowd where the Uchiha police stood surrounding the tombstone, preventing people from coming closer. Up ahead, past the blockage of Uchiha police, Minato noted that Fugaku was standing with his arms crossed, his expression incredibly severe.

As the Uchiha Police allowed the group through, Minato stepped ahead and turned his gaze in the same direction Fugaku was looking.

And that's when he noticed it.

A coffin of ice lay perpendicular to the tombstone and it had a scroll on top of it.

But of course, that wasn't the important part.

Minato's eyes marginally widened.

"Obito…" Kushina said in surprise as she walked up closer. Through the portions of the ice that weren't fogged up (the ones that didn't show Obito's _sensitive_ areas), Kushina could easily make out his familiar face. "How?"

"That was what I was hoping you all had the answer to," Fugaku stated, his face marred with a small frown. "A couple of my patrol units came through this area not too long ago and immediately contacted me. It seems like your students came by during that time as well along with a few other individuals who were here for their own reasons."

Kushina shook her head. "I don't know who found his body. From what I was told, Obito's body was buried under a pile of rubble but efforts to find him came up completely empty. I have no idea how or why he would suddenly turn up here."

Minato remained silent for a moment. "…I know of only one individual who would encase someone in ice like this."

Kakashi's eyes widened. "Yoru…!"

"Wait, you don't think…?!" Rin asked as she locked eyes with the silver haired Jonin.

They paused and saw the realization dawn in each other's eyes.

"What is it?" Minato asked, catching their reaction.

Rin and Kakashi looked at each other for a moment longer before the former spoke up as she looked at the others. "…Right before Yoru left for the exams, he said he would bring Obito's body back. At the time I had just thought that he simply hadn't given up hope like us…"

As they took in those words, Fugaku noted something important about Obito's condition. "His body doesn't have anything on it that would indicate he was buried under rubble for a few years."

" **Mystical Healing** can restore corpses to their original appearance before they died," Minato explained. "It's not unreasonable that Yoru somehow found him and healed him up but…"

Meanwhile, Kushina had been intently staring at the face and body structure of Obito's corpse…

And then something just _clicked_

" _Kurama…tell me that I'm just imagining things."_

" _ **That would be a lie,"**_ Kurama replied as he saw the situation through Kushina's lens. " _ **There's absolutely no doubt about it. That body looks-"**_

"…Older." Kushina whispered softly, enough that only Minato who was beside her was able to pick it up.

Minato's eyes perked up at the word before he began examining the body with much more scrutiny.

Slowly, his expression began to change. "…Fugaku." Minato said quietly, his expression rigid. "Get everyone away from here."

The Uchiha clan head noticed the Hokage's expression and sensed that Minato had realized more about this situation. "Very well." He replied before signaling to his police forces.

As the police moved to do their work, Kushina regarded Minato and at that instant, she could sense his loss _distinctly_ …it was as if she could tangibly detect his negative emotions.

" _Kurama…"_

" _ **Sometimes he's hard to read. I was feeling curious about what kind of despair he was experiencing."**_

" _But you didn't need to give me that ability either…"_

"… _ **I have no idea what you are talking about."**_

" _Thank you."_

Now understanding more of what was going through his mind, Kushina looked at Kakashi and Rin who were staring at the ice coffin which what felt to be some joy and relief. " _It seems like they haven't figured it out yet…"_

Along with that thought process…

"You two should go home for today," Kushina told the two members of Team Minato. "We'll plan a proper burial for him later, alright?"

They looked at each other and then back at Kushina before nodding in agreement. Soon after, they vanished in a burst of high speed.

"I know what you're thinking." Kushina began as she looked at Minato before placing her hands on his cheeks. "But there's still another important part to all of this that we need to look through." She concluded while motioning towards the scroll that was on top of the casket.

Minato held her hands for a moment before walking forwards and taking the scroll, easily noticing the intricate seals placed around it…seals so complex that there were really only 3-4 people he could think of that would be able to break through them. " _Yoru…"_ he thought before glancing at Fugaku once more. "Please, have your men take Obito to cryogenics. I believe your clan would like best to handle him."

Fugaku understood that there was a story of great magnitude to be told by the situation here based on Minato's current situation, but he didn't say anything more than, "Alright, the Uchiha clan will handle it from here."

Her husband's arm in her grasp, Kushina led him away from the site. "Come on, let's go back and read it."

With Minato's silent nod of acknowledgment, the couple traveled back to their home. Entering the building, Minato activated some of the defensive seals of his home before he cast a serious glance at the scroll in his palm.

A delicate hand overlapped his own. "Come. We'll do this together." Kushina declared while pulling Minato towards the couch.

They both then stared at the scroll, deconstructing its protective seals little by little. With some effort, both of them were able to decipher the key necessary to unlock the scroll, the Fuuinjutsu seals on the rolled up parchment disappearing as a result.

They glanced at each other one more time before returning their gazes back to the rolled up document.

Minato unfurled it, both he and his wife then observing the message within:

 _Yo, it's Yoru_

 _So, after reading this, you (Kushina) will most likely want to strangle me, therefore I've decided to go off to a different dimension for a period of time. I think it'll be good for you and Minato to cool down from the situation you no doubt have figured out by now. Don't try to find me because you won't be able to._

Minato blinked. "Different dimension…?"

"Forget it, that's not important," Kushina stated, her expression strained. "Let's just read on shall we?"

And so, they did:

 _So, where to begin?_

 _Let's start with Obito's situation._

 _As you've no doubt discovered (because you both are so intelligent [please don't hurt me when I get back Auntie Kushina])..._

"I don't have that much of a temper…" she muttered.

" _ **Heh."**_ The Kyuubi snickered.

Minato did not comment.

 _Obito's body is older than what it should be._

 _Dead men can't age._

 _ **Mystical Healing**_ _can't age people either._

 _By now you've no doubt come to the realization that Obito has been alive all this time._

 _How you may be asking?_

 _Hashirama cells._

 _They make absolutely no sense._

 _Pieces of the puzzle are probably now beginning to click in place:_

 _The Four-tails attack was done by an Uchiha evident by the sharingan on Son Goku's eyes._

 _Obito was alive during this time and had gotten stronger._

 _Put two and two together along with the fact that Obito never returned to Konoha-_

By this point, the hand grasping the scroll was trembling.

Minato was in a daze.

" _ **Well…isn't that a twist?"**_ Kurama muttered inside Kushina's mind. " _ **But honestly, good riddance. That damn Madara controlled me with his blasted eyes and this Uchiha was about to do the same. Luckily, he made Son his bitch-"**_

" _Kurama."_

" _ **Hm?"**_

" _Shut up."_

"… _ **Whatever."**_

"Minato…" Kushina began, her arms wrapped around Minato's neck while she rested her head on his chest. "I know how you feel, but this isn't your fault." Her gaze became somber while her hands trembled. "Whatever decisions Obito made were his own. You had nothing to do with the choices he made."

"I know, it's just…" Minato paused, his gaze vacant. "I…feel like I failed. As a teacher…as someone, he could look up to." A shadow seemed to be cast over his vision. "I always imagined that he would be proud of me for becoming Hokage but now I find out that he tried to…"

" _ **Murder you, your wife, and your unborn child while trying to destroy the village you were sworn to protect? I'm sure pride in you was the furthest thing from his mind."**_

" _Kurama!"_

" _ **What? I'm just calling it as I see it."**_

With a mental sigh of exasperation, Kushina lifted her head and dragged Minato's to her chest. "You are an incredible father, husband, and teacher. You did what you could for him and…we tried our best to fill in the gaps for his parents. If anything, the blame falls on both of us for not being better." Her hand caressed Minato's scalp and she uttered those words morosely. "Let's continue with it. Maybe Yoru knows something more about what happened to Obito."

 _Anyway, I don't know where he could have possibly obtained Hashirama's DNA or what he went through that caused him to change so drastically, but I do have a clue._

 _First, you have to understand that Obito was there when Rin was impaled by Kakashi's chidori. Due to the circumstances, I quickly transported Rin and Kakashi away so Obito never had the chance to see me heal her._

 _This was the situation that bothered me the most._

 _Why was he there at that time?_

 _Did he know Rin and Kakashi were in trouble?_

 _If so, how?_

 _I've always been thinking about it, but the timing of his arrival was too convenient-no it was too perfect. It was as if someone sent him to see the love of his life die in front of his eyes._

 _Someone had been manipulating him…someone close to him._

 _Most likely the person who saved him and gave him Hashirama cells._

 _I'm not 100% sure who that could have been, but I do have a name._

 _After telling him that she was still alive as he lay half dead in front of me, he screamed one name with such hatred and betrayed that I can only come to the logical conclusion that that individual played an integral role in Obito's change._

 _That name is_

 _Zetsu._

By this point, some of the light had returned to Minato's eyes as his gaze became serious.

" _ **Huh, what another twist. There is someone capable of manipulating an Uchiha? The masters of manipulation?"**_ Kurama began in intrigue. " _ **My money is on another Uchiha. Only an Uchiha could manipulate another Uchiha. That's all they ever excel at anyway."**_

Kushina ignored him. "It seems like there was more to what caused Obito to make that decision." She said with the slimmest traces of relief leaking through her tone. "I told you, it's not your fault." She stated again as she gently rubbed his head.

Minato smiled lightly and lifted his head before looking at Kushina sincerely. "Thank you…for believing in me." He said before leaning in and kissing her deeply.

" _ **Ugh, are you two going to mate again? If so please remember to cut off our connection this time."**_

That snapped her out of it.

With an internal angry blush, Kushina regretfully separated and looked at the scroll. "Let's at least finish reading what he has to say."

With a calm smile, Minato nodded.

 _Now, you may be asking how long I knew this for?_

 _Well, ever since the Four-Tails attack._

 _Your next question is why I never told you._

 _Simple._

 _I knew exactly how you would feel._

 _Like you had failed at being parental figures._

 _That you had failed at being a good influence._

 _What would you two have done had you known?_

 _I didn't want you to be burdened with that._

 _Therefore, I took it upon myself to take care of the issue._

 _Do know, however, that before he died, Obito saved my life._

 _The entire sequence of events is complex and involves things I'm not aware of yet, but I do know that you should keep a vigilant eye out for a particular mercenary group._

 _The Akatsuki._

 _Obito seemed to have played a role in its formation, but another member of that group tried to kill both me and him while we had been weakened from our fight._

 _Be wary of him._

 _He calls himself Pain and he appears to be from Amegakure or at the very least he is a missing-nin from there._

 _But most important than that is his eyes…_

 _I'd never seen anything like it._

 _They were quite frightening_

 _I drew a picture below._

 _Here's to hoping you two can figure out what they are and why they caused my skin to crawl._

Minato and Kushina looked on intently at the ripple patterned eye illustration.

"I wonder…" Minato began. "I feel like I've heard of these from somewhere…maybe Jiraiya would know?"

"Wait." Kushina began as she observed them with squinted eyes. "I think I vaguely remember my clan elders telling me stories about something about this…it was something about a sage of some sort. It is apparently a story from many centuries ago, but I forgot the details since I wasn't always the best listener…"

Minato twitched a smile before he thought of something. "If this happened centuries ago, maybe he knows something."

Kushina blinked a the suggestion and decided that it made a lot of sense.

" _Kurama, do those eyes look familiar to you?"_

"…"

" _Kurama?"_

"… _ **That shouldn't be possible."**_

" _What's wrong?"_

Inside Kushina's mindscape, Kurama's body was erect and alert. " **Those eyes…I haven't seen them in almost a millennia, not since the Sage of Six Paths."**

"That's what it was!" Kushina said in recollection.

" _ **Not 'what it' it's 'who he'."**_

Minato looked at her intently. "What is?"

"The Sage of Six Paths." Kushina reiterated. "The elders of my clan would tell stories about how he saved the world from a terrifying beast and his eyes…they were legendary, considered the greatest dojutsu."

"Then, did it have a name?"

Kushina thought for a moment. "Hmm…was it the Rinnesharingan? Or maybe the sharinnegan? Or maybe-"

" _ **How the hell can you come so close but be so off? They're called the Rinnegan."**_

"Ahh, I remember! It's called the Rinnegan!"

 **"…"**

"Rinnegan…" Minato let the words roll off his tongue as he sank in thought. "I'll have to make sure to get intel on the Akatsuki and what their goals are. Whoever Pein is, he is undoubtedly dangerous if he really has such eyes."

Kurama scoffed. " _ **There's no way this fake has abilities anywhere near the Sage."**_

" _Even so, the fact that he has such a dojutsu is enough to be of concern. If he has even a fraction of the Sage of Six Path's power, then according to what my elders told me, he would still be incredibly dangerous."_

" _ **Hmph, whatever. He's not my problem anyway."**_

Kushina internally rolled her eyes before she opened the scroll a bit more and read, along with Minato, what was within.

 _Even if you can't find anything about them, just make sure to pay attention to Amegakure. I remember people talking about a god and an Angel there. If this Pain has anything to do with it, it would be best to exercise extreme caution._

 _I think you'll be fine though._

 _Tell Mito I'm sorry and not to hate me or I'll be sad._

 _Also, I'll bring back some souvenirs from my travels, so tell her to look forward to it._

 _Keep watch of Naruto. He's an interesting kid. He has a good heart, that one._

 _Tell Kotoe she's the best and that I'll miss her lap pillows (god they are so soft)._

 _If you ever see a woman by the name of Mei Terumi of Kirigakure, please explain that I left due to extenuating circumstances and that I enjoyed our night together._

 _Love you both and stay safe._

 _If I come back to find any of you dead, I'll destroy the shinobi nations._

 _Kidding._

 _Maybe not…_

 _(P.S. If you guys hear anything about the_ _ **Valley of the End**_ _suddenly and unexplainably being replaced by a vast expanse of bare ground, do note that it was definitely not because of Obito's fight with me._

 _It had always been that way.)_

Kushina looked on blankly. "…He slept with a woman already?"

" _ **That's what stood out to you? Not the fact that he threatened to destroy the world if you all died? Nor the suspicious message he left at the end? Really?"**_ Kurama asked inside Kushina's mind.

But then he thought about it for a little…" _ **That being said, I can't say I don't like his style. Good riddance to that stupid valley. Honestly, I couldn't stand the fact that that stupid Uchiha had a monument set up half the size of his ego. Don't even get me started on that simpleton Senju."**_

"He's all grown up," Minato stated with a cool smile. "I wonder what she looks like? I hope he used protection…Maybe we should form an alliance with Kiri?"

"Hmph, he better take responsibility," Kushina stated as she took the scroll from Minato's hand and rolled it up. "Speaking of…" she straddled Minato with a coy smile and tossed the scroll aside. "You need to take responsibility for what you started."

" _ **Ugh, please reme-"**_

Kushina shut him out.

"Now then…" The redhead began as she wrapped her arms around Minato's neck.

Minato wrapped his arms around her waist before he paused for a moment. " …The kids though."

"The seals say they went back to sleep," Kushina stated as she leaned in close. "As long as you're quiet we should be fine."

"Oh?" Minato began as he lifted Kushina up and lay her below him on the couch. "Last time I checked, you were the screamer."

Kushina smiled seductively. "Then make me."

A booming knock filled with anxiousness sounded out from behind their front door.

Both Minato and Kushina paused.

"Ignore it." The Hokage stated.

Just as he moved in for the capture, Kushina stopped him, resting her hand on his chest. "Wait, they feel very tense…uneasy."

Minato raised a brow. "How would you know that?"

"Kurama can sense negative emotions." She stated as she got out from underneath him and moved towards the door.

Minato followed after her. "Since when…?"

Before Kushina thought to answer, her hand was already on the doorknob before she swung it open.

"Lord Hokage! It's terrible!" An individual in front of numerous other shinobi anxiously stated as he stood outside the Hokage's door.

Minato blanked for a moment before sighing. "…The **Valley of the End** is gone-"

"The **Valley of the End** has completely vanished! There's no trace of it for-" The shinobi paused before asking. "Lord Hokage, how did you…?"

Minato and Kushina looked at each other and sighed.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

"How did he…?" Kushina stated in silent awe.

The vast expanse of land for over a hundred kilometers was plain _bare_ ground.

No landmarks demoting this area existed.

They were all gone.

And where the **Valley of the End** used to be was now just an empty crater, dozens of kilometers wide.

" _ **I would need to charge a Bijuu Dama for a decently long period of time to get destruction anywhere near this scale…what a frightening kid."**_ Kurama stated with some respect seeping through his tone.

Minato, meanwhile, deeply exhaled, his cranium aching. "Why?"

"That's the same question I wanted to ask you," Rasa stated as he floated some distance away on a gold dust cloud, his forces behind him. "The Valley bordered our two countries so when some of my men came to tell me that it had suddenly disappeared, you can imagine my disbelief. You wouldn't happen to know anything, would you?"

Minato looked at the destruction for a moment before shaking his head. "I have no clue. Maybe some tailed beasts fought each other? The Four-Tails should have reformed by now and the Two-Tails Jinchuriki had suddenly vanished a few years back. Maybe they met up and didn't like each other?"

"…Is that so?" Rasa stated with a blank gaze that demonstrated how little he truly believed that statement. "Those beasts are truly dangerous weapons of mass destruction if they can cause destruction on this scale." He narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the Hokage. "That sort of power really shouldn't be concentrated in one place, wouldn't you agree?"

"I agree sincerely," Minato stated with a smile. "It's a good thing they aren't, Isn't it?"

Rasa stared at the blond-haired Hokage for a few moments later before he took once more glance at the surrounding destruction. "Let's go. There's nothing much for us to do here anyway." Saying so, Rasa turned away and flew back to home base, his forces on the ground following right behind him.

"Hmm, I don't think he likes us much." Kushina muttered.

" _ **What gave you that idea?"**_

" _Probably the negative emotions. Can't be sure."_

" _ **Hmph."**_

"Let's leave." Minato stated as he shook his head, "There's nothing for us to do here."

Kushina smiled and wrapped her arms around one of Minato's own and whispered. "Then maybe we can continue where we left off…?"

Minato's eyebrows jumped for a fraction of a second before a minuscule smile donned his lips.

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

Mei Terumi opened her eyes and batted her lashes a few times before she sat up and pushed back a few strands of hair. Feeling the empty spot beside her, she sighed. "You couldn't at least wait till the morning…?"

She looked around before her gaze focused on the bed stand where a scroll lay where there hadn't been one last night. With a look of intrigue, she leaned forward and took the scroll before opening it.

 _Sorry for ditching you after our fun night, I had to go kill my friend you see._

 _He was becoming much too troublesome for me to leave alone._

 _Don't worry, I'll be back pretty soon so wait for me._

 _In the meantime, you should work on your stamina in bed._

 _Don't practice with other people though._

 _I will probably find out and kill them._

 _Joking._

 _Maybe not…_

Mei paused and flushed in embarrassment for a moment before she took a breath to calm herself down.

She continued to read.

 _Anyway, I'm not good with this kind of thing so here's a flower to illustrate the depths of your blinding beauty._

 _Let's do this again sometime._

As she reached the end of the scroll, Mei saw a sealing inscription and an area on which she could supplant it with chakra.

After she did so, there was a _puff_ followed by a cloud of smoke before an intricate flower appeared on her palm. There was fluorescent lava trapped within a crystal of ice that was shaped into a flower.

She smiled. "Charmer."

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

" **You failed in killing him, Nagato."**

In a dark room, a man with pale white skin, straight red hair, and purple eyes with a ripple pattern stood inside a mechanical walker. The ribs clearly visible from his skin and his sunken stomach lay evidence to the fact that he was deeply emancipated and could barely move on his own. Numerous black rods jutted from his back and creates a frightening image.

Nagato looked at Black Zetsu gravely. "Why are you here?"

" **I see you are still in this unfortunate state."** Zetsu stated as he scanned Nagato up and down.

Nagato's eyes narrowed in severity. "Choose your next words _carefully._ "

From behind Black Zetsu came the Yahiko Deva Path of Pain.

Zetsu remained calm, " **I know of a way to save you from your current state and return your body to its maximum capacity. All I need is your cooperation."**

The Deva Path paused in its advancement while Nagato narrowed his eyes displaying deep skepticism.

"Explain."

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

 _There was a tree fluorescing with uncountable numbers of flickering lights._

 _Yoru appeared within the deepest layer of his soul before his astral body flashed through past the numerous illuminated worlds of the tree._

 _Appearing in front of_ _ **J**_ _, Yoru froze._

 _Slowly but surely, small notes of light were flying off of_ _ **J**_ _and disappearing into the void._

" _What…?"_

" _ **10 human years," J**_ _stated as he looked as his slowly vanishing hands._ " _ **You gained conscious when your body was 4 years of age and now it's 14. My mission has been completed."**_

 _Yoru tightly knit his brows. "What exactly does that mean?"_

" _ **I'll explain, but isn't there something you want to ask first?"**_

 _Yoru simply nodded. "Yeah, what is wrong with my status screen? I have no levels and what's with the_ _ **stat total**_ _?"_

" _ **You could just use the help function…" J**_ _stated, gently shaking his head._ " _ **You no longer need levels to progress as your strength is wholly dependent on your stats and Tier. Ever tier, from 10-C up to 5-A is given based on your stat total which is the sum of all you're stats: STR + VIT + DEX + INT + WIS + ENGY**_ **."**

 _Yoru furrowed his brows. "What is the point of that?"_

" _ **It acts as a power level of sorts for you to quickly measure your aptitude compared to your opponents. And every increase in tier requires a minimum stat total. Tier increases will give you a greater bonus in stat effectiveness which basically increases the effects of your stats. Here:"**_

 _ **J**_ _opened up a screen._

* * *

 _ **Stat Total per Tier**_

 _ **10-C Total Stats: 1 - 10**_

 _ **10-B Total Stats: 10 - 20**_

 _ **10-A Total Stats: 20 - 40**_

 _ **9-C Total Stats: 40 - 80**_

 _ **9-B Total Stats: 80 - 160**_

 _ **9-A Total Stats: 160 - 320**_

 _ **8-C Total Stats: 320 - 640**_

 _ **8-B Total Stats: 640 - 1,280**_

 _ **8-A Total Stats: 1,280 - 2,560**_

 _ **7-C Total Stats: 2,560 - 5,120**_

 _ **7-B Total Stats: 5,120 - 10,240**_

 _ **7-A Total Stats: 10,240 - 20,480**_

 _ **6-C Total Stats: 20,480 - 40,960**_

 _ **6-B Total Stats: 40,960 - 81,920**_

 _ **6-A Total Stats: 81,920 - 163,840**_

 _ **6-A+ Total Stats: 163,840 - 327,680**_

 _ **5-C Total Stats: 327,680 - 655,360**_

 _ **5-B Total Stats: 655,360 - 1,310,720**_

 _ **5-A Total Stats: 1,310,720 - 2,621,440 (*1*)**_

* * *

 _ **Stat Effectiveness Bonus per Tier**_

 _ **10-C: 100.0%**_

 _ **10-B: 105.0%**_

 _ **10-A: 110.0%**_

 _ **9-C: 120.0%**_

 _ **9-B: 130.0%**_

 _ **9-A: 140.0%**_

 _ **8-C: 155.0%**_

 _ **8-B: 170.0%**_

 _ **8-A: 185.0%**_

 _ **7-C: 205.0%**_

 _ **7-B: 225.0%**_

 _ **7-A: 245.0%**_

 _ **6-C: 270.0%**_

 _ **6-B: 295.0%**_

 _ **6-A: 320.0%**_

 _ **6-A+: 350.0%**_

 _ **5-C: 385.0%**_

 _ **5-B: 420.0%**_

 _ **5-A: 455.0%**_

* * *

 _Yoru took it all in. "Huh, that's neat…"_

" _ **Everything now will mainly rely on your own efforts an any missions you receive will only reward you with stat points. EXP is no longer necessary nor required."**_

 _Yoru memorizes the information before his gaze became serious as he saw the rate of_ _ **J**_ ' _s body vanishing increase. "You never really told me what you meant what you said we were the same."_

 _ **J**_ _looked up at the numerous flickering lights of the Tree._ " _ **In the beginning, we were simply a formless entity that existed along with the Tree. We actually had a sort of symbiotic relationship: We would 'prune' the tree, so to speak, by devouring decaying or broken multiverses and in turn, the tree would be allowed to continually expand in its already infinite size and influence. Of course, there was a caveat. If we stopped gaining sustenance from the tree, we would eventually cease to exist. Our existences were intricately interlinked, but it was all fine because we were merely a being of instinct. Why would we care about any of that if we could just eat and survive?"**_

" _Why do you keep saying we…?"_

 _He was ignored._

" _ **Fast forward a few eternities and we inexplicably developed a sense of self. In psychological terms, an EGO and that was when we realized how meaningless our existence was."**_

" _ **Because our life was wholly dependent on the tree, we were unable to move up in 'tier'…We were stagnant, living a purposeless existence."**_

" _ **We sought to change that."**_

" _ **We sent merely infinitesimally small fragments of our being into numerous realities to learn from them…to study what We could to solve our predicament. We did many things…devoured numerous realities for our purpose…realities that weren't broken or decayed."**_

" _ **Some natives who could understand our existence in those dimensional realities gave us a name…Jormungand, the world-devouring serpent."**_

" _ **So We took that form."**_

" _ **After eons exploring the numerous planes of realities, we finally found the solution to our problem."**_

 _ **J**_ _paused for a beat._

 _Yoru raised a brow. "And that was…?"_

 _ **J**_ _intently gazed at Yoru._ " _ **In order to become independent of the Tree, we needed to become a completely different existence to sever our connection. A large piece of what was once 'us' was sent into a vessel we created that was disconnected from our existence. That vessel would grow up and assimilate into the world they were born in. That was you."**_

 _Yoru became speechless for a moment_ "... _Oh"_

" _ **You were given small glimpses of information about the worlds we had visited in the past so that you wouldn't go insane or be easily influenced. In the meantime, I would stay in the background and support you, making sure that you grew relatively safely."**_

 _"Then why are you disappearing now…?" Yoru asked as he watched **J** continually fade._

" _ **After your body was finished growing and your essence was implanted into it, you were slowly assimilated into the world while our connection grew distant. After a decade of that and me not devouring anything from the tree, the assimilation would be complete. With that, you would truly be a separate entity but I would be incomplete and starved. I would have to disappear."**_

 _Yoru remained silent for a moment. "That sucks…"_

" _ **Not really. You still exist so I will technically be alive in a sense. Besides…" J**_ _paused and smiled._ " _ **Did you know?"**_ _He asked as only his upper half remained visible while the rest of his body had disappeared._ " _ **In Japanese, my name can roughly translate to**_ **Yoru** _ **mungando…a piece of our past will always be with you."**_

 _Yoru's eyes magnified._

" _ **Relax and have fun with your life. There's a bunch of worlds waiting for you." J**_ _stated only his face remaining._

" _Wait, didn't you say that we existed to support this Tree? What will happen if you disappear?"_

 _ **J**_ _shrugged._ " _ **Not my problem and you should not make it yours either. Existence has a way of balancing itself out so it'll all work out anyway. Besides, even if something does happen, it would take innumerable years for the effects to be evident in your life."**_ _He looked at Yoru gently._ " _ **Don't let your existence go to waste."**_

 _He vanished._

 _Yoru stood in silence, his brain contemplating what he had just heard._

 _He gently shook his head, "He was right, it doesn't really matter."_

 **-Yoru: Gamer-**

Yoru opened his eyes and gazed at his trusted partner for a moment before stroking her scales.

His eyes became serious, "Now then, let's see where we can take our vacation."

* * *

Ping!

 **ID: Travel (Active):**

 **You are connected to the numerous worlds of the Tree. [ID: Travel] also known as [Inter-Dimensional Travel] allows you to travel to new worlds and explore new places. Access the list of Worlds and choose the world you want to visit.**

 **Worlds Visited:**

→ **Naruto (Alternate)**

 **List of worlds (Worlds with a ❗️ are potentially dangerous to you. Each ❗️ signifies the tier difference between you and the applicable individual of that world)**

→ **Naruto (Shippūden) [Highly Recommended ❗️]**

→ **MCU [Highly Recommended ❗️to ❗️❗️** **❗️** **❗️** **❗️]**

→ **Toriko [Highly Recommended ❗️ to❗️❗️]**

→ **Bleach [Highly Recommended ❗️]**

→ **Jojo's BA [Recommended** **❗️❗️]**

→ **Nanatsu no Taizai [Recommended ❗️]**

→ **Nasuverse** **[Recommended ❗️to❗️❗️❗️❗️]**

→ **Hunter X Hunter [Recommended]**

→ **One Piece [Recommended]**

→ **Akame ga Kill [Recommended]**

→ **Pokemon [Recommended ❗️to❗️❗️❗️❗️]**

→ **Dragon Ball Z [Not Recommended ❗️to❗️❗️]**

→ **Dragon Ball Super [❗️❗️to❗️❗️❗️❗️]**

→ **Attack on Titan [Not Recommended]**

→ **Boku no Hero Academia [Neutral]**

→ **Fairy Tail [Neutral]**

→ **High School DxD [Neutral ❗️** **❗️** **]**

→…

 **(Cooldown: 3 months)**

* * *

Yoru was somewhat overwhelmed with the innumerable options. Taking a quick moment to calm himself, he focused on the first handful of worlds and narrowed his eyes. " _Naruto Shippūden…?"_

He knew the names of the worlds and had some of the very basic information about what they were, but **J** did not impart with him any more than that.

There was still a lot he didn't know.

Clicking the top world that was so heavily recommended, a description popped up.

Ping!

 **Naruto (Shippūden) [Highly Recommended❗️]**

 **It is an alternate reality based on a world in which you did not exist. It takes place around 12-13 years after you're current time period. Would you like to travel to this world?**

 **Y/N?**

It wasn't much information, but because Yoru already knew what there was to know about this world, there didn't need to be any more information than that. Brows furrowed in contemplation, Yoru thought about what he could achieve traveling to a seemingly future version of the world he was currently in…

His eyes sharpened. " _What happened to cause Obito to become that way? Who is Pain? And what is Zetsu…"_ were the questions that immediately occupied his mind as he thought is what he would accomplish.

His hands slipped to his sides. "I've decided Levia. It seems like we don't quite have unfinished business with this place after all."

She looked at me in confusion and tilted her head with a _hiss_?

Yoru rubbed his chin as he looked at her. "It would be easier to explain if I could show you-"

Ping!

 **Would you like to grant your familiar [Levia] access to prompts?**

 **Y/N?**

Yoru blinked. "Where the heck was this before…?"

Shaking his head, Yoru offhandedly clicked **Y**.

Levia looked at the display curiously. " _What is this?"_

He froze for a moment. "…did you just speak human?"

" _No…?"_ She stated with innocent confusion.

Yoru opened his mouth but closed it. "I think I see what it is…" he said as he removed Levia's access to the prompts.

She blinked in confusion as they disappeared.

 _hiss?_

Yoru gave her back access.

" _Oh, they're back. Big bro, what did you do?"_

Yoru paused before a thought came to his mind. "Call me Onii-Chan."

"… _Onii-Chan?"_

A wide grin made its way in Yoru's face before he rubbed his cheek against Levia. "Ahh, you're too adorable!"

" _Stop, it tickles."_ She stated as she wriggled around.

With a smile, Yoru places her on his shoulder before his gaze turned serious once more. "As you see, we are going to an alternative dimension of this world's future."

" _I don't see that anywhere…I just see words with exclamation points next to them."_

"Oh yeah…you wouldn't know…" shaking his head, Yoru just stated. "Anyway, that's what we are doing. Are you ready?"

" _Yes!"_

Yoru beamed and clicked **Y** on the prompt asking him to travel to that world.

And everything distorted.

* * *

 **In a few days, I'm going to go through all my chapters and** **Remove my author's notes because the story is complete with this chapter. Just an fyi so that when you get that surge of notifications, you don't think I've come out with a new chapter or something. On an unrelated note, my DC-Gamer story is up on 'My Stories' so for you men and women of culture who are interested in a _'plot'_ filled story, check it out. Don't expect too much from it.**

 **What warrants those danger ratings in those worlds?**

→ **Naruto (Shippūden) [❗️] = Kaguya/Momoshiki**

→ **MCU [❗️to ❗️❗️** **❗️** **❗️** **❗️] = The One Above All**

→ **Toriko [❗️ to❗️❗️] = Acacia's Gourmet Demon ate countless stars**

→ **Bleach [❗️] = Thousand Year Blood War arc Aizen/Soul King Absorbed Yhwach (Though his hax make him 1000x more deadly than his tier)**

→ **Jojo's BA [** **❗️** **❗️] = Heaven Ascension Dio**

→ **Nanatsu no Taizai [❗️] = Demon King/Supreme Deity/Post-purgatory Meliodas (The reason they are at this tier ties in with my new system and their system of power levels)**

→ **Nasuverse** **[❗️to❗️❗️❗️❗️] = BB/Archetype: Earth (Arcrueid Brunestud)/Kiara Sessyoin**

→ **Pokemon [❗️to❗️❗️❗️❗️] = Arceus/Dialga/Palkia/Giratina**

→ **Dragon Ball Z [❗️to❗️❗️] = I shouldn't have to explain**

→ **Dragon Ball Super [❗️❗️to❗️❗️❗️❗️] = Gods of Destruction/Zeno/See above**

→ **High School DxD [❗️** **❗️** **] = Ophis/Great Red (Note: No clue how strong they, but Great Red is said to be capable of destroying the various worlds of the mythologies in a battle with Trihexa so I'm playing it safe. Don't want to wank him)**

 **The effects of Puberty on Gamer's Mind occurred long before Yoru regained access to his status screen.**

 **Also, "Stat Total" has nothing to do with stat points. It simply represents the sum of all his stats (STR + VIT + DEX + INT + WIS + ENGY = Stat Total). The reasoning for this new addition to his stat page is explained in this chap.**

 **stylo1: Yoru's stat updates are from the time when he lost his status screen (back in chapter 23) up till now. Also, remember there was a time skip explained in chapter 28.**

 **Arya970: He didn't have access to his system screens remember? Using observe at that point in time would have allowed him to understand the capabilities of the people around him, but no numerical values would have appeared.**


	32. Sequel Update

**Story Update:**

Alright, I've been getting asked a lot about when the When the sequel to Yoru's adventures would be written or if it would be written at all. I suppose it's only fair to update you all on that.

For starters, I'm taking a break from writing to solely focus on studying for the MCAT. The only reason I can update my **DC - Gamer** story is because I already have the chapters written out so all I gotta do it edit and post them.

Yoru will return sometime in September latest October. My life of busy and college is relentless so time is an issue. I hope you all understand.

The sequel will be a separate story, evidenced by the fact that **Yoru - Gamer Between Dimensions** alright has that "complete" mark next to it.

When I'm ready to post the new story, I'll alert you all through **Yoru - Gamers Between Dimensions** so that you don't miss it.

Anyway, just needed to give you all that quick update before I was asked anymore about that topic.


End file.
